Tell It Like It Is
by Marshie12
Summary: Sequel to Lizzy's Guide to Life. Does Lizzy Morgan have what it takes to make it through her 15 minutes of fame with her sanity still intact? Well what about with a serious blast from the past in the form of a newly engaged Will Darcy? We're finishing now
1. Prologue

_Twas a tricky week for me. I got insulted by my editor. Got pink eye. Got a new job. And finally (!) a new story._

_Ok this is a sequel to my other story Lizzy's Guide to Life but if you haven't read it you don't need to know much except... well actually you don't need to know anything that won't explain itself in time._

_Enjoy but um try not to go into this with expectations... you will very quickly (and very soon) find them to be shattered._**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Prologue_

Lizzy is still the same person as she's always been. Sure she'd tell people that she was more mature, or intelligent, or open-minded but the truth is that Lizzy Morgan now is the exact same person as the Lizzy Morgan that existed 26 years ago. What doesn't make sense is that if she's the same person as she's always been, then why does the whole city of Los Angeles suddenly love her?

The truth is very simple. Lizzy Morgan is now a name that sells.

When a person walks down the street and sees a billboard with Lizzy's picture on it, beside the jumble of characters HR99.2, they automatically know who she is. When they flip on their car radio and hear "It is now safe to turn on your radio" they automatically know the contradicting softly, crude voice of Lizzy Morgan.

Lizzy Morgan is a product and sales pitch all at once, because she sells herself. She sells her own deluded version of "the truth" and sells it well. That's why whenever they see that billboard or hear that phrase they also automatically relate Lizzy Morgan right back to her advertisers, and managers, and radio station.

That's why Lizzy Morgan has, at the young hot, age of 26, transformed herself into the hottest name on radio. That's why when her "On Air" sign in her own little studio lights up she can basically say whatever the hell she wants and the city will only love her more for it.

No one sells like Lizzy.

"It is 5:55 and you are, for some insane reason unbeknownst to me, listening to HR99.2 and me, your chemically dependant, host Lizzy Morgan. For all you lucky people out there that missed our show today you'll have to turn it back off for the remaining five minutes I have left to consume these air waves."

Lizzy leaned closer to her microphone and softened her voice a little dropping what she liked to call her "advertising voice" and spun he swivel chair quickly to count her pause. "As for the two listeners out there that are actually paying attention it is now time for me to complete my hour long brainwashing process with a very random collection of news segments.

"Amber Bedlow, the star of the hit ABC show Pleading Domestic Women, has recently been confined to bed rest for the remaining duration of her pregnancy. Hopefully with any luck the child will look nothing like her mother and spare us from having to face the fact that there are two people in this world that are _that_ ugly. I mean honestly, who even knocked that witch up in the first place? That requires touching her slimy spawn of Satan skin. Give that poor man some sort of memory-loss disease." Lizzy briefly cast her eyes over to the viewing window on the far side of her studio and tried not to laugh as she saw her manager, Corey Webbing, banging her head viciously against the wall.

"Oh this one's random. Top record executive William Darcy," she stopped and looked down at her notes again just to check the name, she hastily had to pick back up her train of thought that had quickly left the station, "has announced his engagement to Melanie Slaide, Sparkle Publishing heiress, in a statement today. This is very exciting news to the two people in the world who actually seem to even know who Melanie Slaide and Will Darcy are." She wasn't smiling anymore as she grabbed her next announcement and tried to pretend like she wasn't one of those two people. _More like two billion people, _she admitted to herself. They both headed two of the most famous companies for backing every singly famous author or musician.

"Robert Desoto," she continued keeping her voice in her customary cynical tone, "has also recently announced he's putting in a bid to buy the entire country of Mexico. He wasn't told until later that Mexico is not up for sale and he is in fact the biggest idiot the world has ever seen.

"And finally, -thank god- is the oh so brilliant basketball player, Kenneth Esmond, thought he was actually smart enough, or famous enough, to smuggle two kilos of marijuana through the Miami airport. Turns out he is both an idiot and an egomaniac. Good luck with that Kenneth." She was back into her routine again from that minor throw back about the millionaires.

"Ok well, that's our show for today. I'm sorry that you were taped to a chair and forced to listen to this horrible production because if that wasn't the case you just wasted the past hour of your life.

"Alight I leave you with the amusing rhythms of Sugar Cult and the promise that I will not be on again until tomorrow at five. Alright that's it-" Lizzy spun in her chair as she heard banging on the window and saw Corey gesturing repeatedly to her mouth.

_Oh right the line. Shit. _She'd completely forgotten her signature phrase.

She smiled at Corey and leaned back over her mic with only one ear of her headset pressed against her ear. "Don't worry. It's is now safe to turn _on_ your radio."

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_Yeah ok I'm sorry. They had to be broken up. It's Will and Lizzy! You really thought they wouldn't have fought their way out of their relationship?_

_Oh wow you did? Kind of naive._

_Anyway... don't you want to know who Melanie is?_

_If you review enough, maybe I'll let you meet her by posting the first chapter._

_:) I do think the record should show that I'm sorry._


	2. Chapter 1

_Wow 13 reviews freaking rocks!_ _If I can get to 30 after this chapter I'll update that much sooner. Ok well enjoy it..._**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter one_

Everything about the office Lizzy sat in was slicked down and polished. The books, that covered an entire wall of the gigantic office, were seamlessly shiny and the floor squeaked with every step her casual sneakers made toward the chair next to the perfectly manicured desk. Hell, even the garbage can seemed to have recently been polished.

The worst part though, of the office and all its cleanliness, just happened to be the woman that sat on the other side of the perfectly manicured desk. Appropriately she too was perfectly polished with flawlessly manicured finger nails (and probably toe nails too if Lizzy felt like trying to find out) and a pristine, not to mention very fashionable, white cashmere sweater that not only (just like everything else in the office) looked brand new but also redefined the phrase "casual meeting."

Lizzy skimmed over the woman's flawless makeup and glittering diamond earrings and self-consciencely remembered that she'd forgotten to put on deodorant this morning. This woman seemed as though she'd never forgotten a single aspect of her appearance, yet alone something as basic as deodorant.

The woman quickly stood from her chair and stuck her hand out to Lizzy. She wore jeans that would have constituted a more casual ensemble if it hadn't appeared as if those jeans cost more than three month's rent in Lizzy's apartment.

She gave Lizzy a quick glance over and hid her wince at Lizzy's appearance with expertise. Lizzy had on a scruffy pair of pants that even had a thin layer of mud around the hem despite this being the city, where mud is perfectly avoidable. She had on a black t-shirt that said "Follow me, I'm lost" on it in neon pink writing and her short blonde hair was drawn back into a tangled ponytail that screamed "I forgot to shower this morning." The woman handled her messy appearance beautifully. She'd dealt with enough authors and artists to understand that most people, that preferred to be heard rather than seen, really took no pride in their appearance. Why would a radio host be any different?

"Oh Lizzy, it's so great to finally meet the face that goes behind that amazing voice," the woman said coolly while shaking hands softly with Lizzy.

While Lizzy was comparing the callus ratio of her own hands to the pristine one that held it she once again dragged her eyes over the woman's professionally whitened teeth, her million dollar necklace, and finally across her desk to the gold plated name plate. _Melanie Slaide. _The name slid around her brain like poison.

"So I hope you know why you're her." Melanie sat back into her chair without Lizzy even giving some form of "hello."

Lizzy tried to ignore her chipper, girlish voice, which reminded her of an old cheerleader from her high school, and the way her acoustics seemed so false. Lizzy made it her job to know a person based solely on their voice and she could immediately tell that everything about Melanie Slaide's voice made her a fraud.

She was a lair. A pseudo-human. She was faker than her own tattooed eyeliner. More so than her expensive hair extensions. But, worst of all, she was even more phony than her over-inflated boob job.

Lizzy bit her tongue and smiled at the woman then slid into her own, and decidedly less cushioned, seat across from the woman. "Um. I actually have no clue why you asked me here."

Melanie laughed but Lizzy couldn't help but want to point out that nothing she'd said was funny.

As Melanie finished her egregious chuckle she rested her left hand softly on top of her desk and flashed a glittering mammoth of a diamond that sparkled more than everything in the room combined. "Oh Lizzy you're such a free spirit. No one could ever tame you, could they?"

Lizzy tried to decide if the woman was speaking about her or Black Beauty the horse. She then shrugged and forced herself to smile again. Suddenly she realized that her false smile made her fit more easily into the theme of the office. She hoped this theme of lies also held true to that gigantean diamond engagement ring that graced the woman's hand. "They never really tried to 'tame me.' I guess it was just too big of a task," Lizzy replied flatly and with moderate sarcasm that Melanie decidedly ignored as she laughed again.

"So you really can't realize why you're here." Suddenly Melanie's voice had changed. She was no longer talking to an equal but an inferior and her voice let this thought shine through, right onto Lizzy's perceptive ears.

Lizzy shrugged again and stopped bothering to smile. "Well you're a publisher so I guess you want me talk about some sort of book on my show."

"Close." Melanie smiled again. "I do think that's a brilliant idea, but I was mostly thinking that _you_ should write the book, then feature it on your show."

"Me?" Lizzy pointed to herself as if there was someone else in the room that Melanie could be talking to. "I'm not a writer," she protested feebly as Melanie nodded.

"Have you ever tried?" Melanie asked now not even bothering to look at Lizzy anymore as she shuffled through a couple of papers on her desk. Now that she'd made her suggestion she figured the idea would sell itself.

Lizzy held true to an old mantra her best friend from high school would always mutter whenever she thought Lizzy would lose her temper or get snappy. _If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all._

The silence stretched across the office (all 9 billion square feet of it) while Melanie stopped shuffling her papers, and locked her eyes into Lizzy's, not understanding why Lizzy wasn't brainstorming ideas already like most people she proposed such an offer to did.

"That's a hell of a rock you got there." Lizzy eventually ground out the first thing that came to mind as she refused to consider the ludicrous proposal.

At the mention of her precious stone Melanie brought both her hands to her heart and cupped her right hand around the gigantic stone. Lizzy hoped that the edges on the 26-karat diamond would slice right through her palm and make her bleed all over her rock. Then she went right back to hoping it was a _fake_ ring that symbolized a _fake_ relationship.

Melanie stuck her left hand out and wiggled her fingers to make the thing refract light right back into her eyes. It just so happened to be a dreaded twist of irony that the angle she held it at also refracted the light right into Lizzy's face and momentarily blinded her.

"Will –that's my fiancé- he said he picked the biggest one he could find so that the whole world would know _I_ was his girl!" She smiled at the ring and Lizzy secretly wondered if she was actually just checking her reflection in it.

"He must be one hell of a guy," Lizzy muttered with honestly no trace of humor but she had to stop herself from laughing as Melanie continued to gush about the ring, and unfortunately her fiancé.

"Oh he's so incredibly perfect!" She was practically squeaking… Lizzy related it to the sound of a mouse. "You don't even know-"

_Don't I?_

"He just always thinks of ways to surprise me and all these little things that make me so happy. He's a huge record executive. He's the type of guy that would never forget your birthday, you know?" She'd asked a question but didn't wait for an answer before she continued. Lizzy considered her self lucky that this entire conversation could take place without her saying a single word. "I just love him _so much_ but it was still such a surprise to have him pop the question. I mean we've only been together for nine months."

"That's enough time to have had a baby," Lizzy interjected without meaning too. She never knew why but she always had this weird tick of always relating time to unconventional things. Like if someone said the term "once a month" she automatically thought they were speaking about their period.

Melanie stopped and regarded her for a second almost as if she was even shocked to find someone else in her office. "Er- I suppose." She obviously wasn't used to being caught off-guard.

Lizzy, on the other hand, was very good at catching people off-guard.

"So I've decided I'll do it," Lizzy said brightly, suddenly smiling with an evil contorted grin.

"Get married?" Melanie asked. Obviously her mind wasn't on her beautifully developed business proposal.

"I'll write the book. It'll be an autobiography of how I ended up where I am."

Melanie smiled brightly but confidently. Obviously she never even considered the thought that Lizzy might say no. What B-list (or possibly even C-list) celebrity would pass up a way to get her name plastered everywhere?

Lizzy, under normal circumstances, would have loved to have been the first, but saying no to_ this_ woman would only have ruined a perfect torture device for a woman who truly thinks her life is perfect.

Lizzy could have passed up the book offer but she never in a million years would pass up the chance to introduce someone into the real world.

Maybe it was time that Melanie Slaide understood that she wasn't the first person to get into the heart of her "oh-so-perfect" fiancé.

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_Yey! Thats he first one. I'm going for shorter updates so I can get them done faster. Plus I hated having to do the length that Lizzy's Guide was._

_What do you guys think of Melanie? Or better yet what do you think Will thinks of Melanie?_

_I honestly tried with the typos so please forgive whichevers managed to slip through my fingers._


	3. Chapter 2

_I figured since my last update was so fast that you guys wouldn't mind waiting a few days. Was i wrong?_**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 2_

"Lizzy Morgan! _Please_ explain to me why you decided to agree to a book without the approval or advice of your manager!"

Lizzy leaned forward across her bathroom counter and slid her eyeliner pencil carefully across the edges of her eyelid.

"If I told you, you'd call me a horrible human being," she muttered as she stood back straight and capped her pencil.

"I already think that based on the torture you manage to put your best friend through," Corey muttered slamming her palm roughly onto the counter while Lizzy giggled at her pain filled expression.

Lizzy shrugged as she put her boot onto the edge of the bathtub and zipped up her thigh high's. "You were the one that agreed to be my manager after college. And what are you complaining about? If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have your own firm at the young age of 27?"

Corey practically growled at her as Anya, their other roommate, squeezed herself into the tiny bathroom and gestured for Lizzy to zip up the back of her dress. Technically it was about the size of a shirt but Anya wore it as a dress and no one would ever think to call her out on it.

"Anya don't you think Lizzy is ridiculous?" Corey asked while pulling her hair up into a light twist so that wisps of her brown hair fell loosely around her neck.

Anya didn't look up from where she'd crouched to try and extricate her hair straightener from their tangle of electronic beauty equipment that existed beneath their sink. "Yes," she said in between mutterings about, "those stupid cords."

"Hey!" Lizzy lifted her arms to help her deodorant dry under her arm pits and looked at Anya incredulously. "You don't even know what we're talking about!"

Anya stood, hair straightener in hand, and shrugged at Lizzy as she plugged it into the last remaining bathroom socket. "So? I know you, and that's enough to know that you're ridiculous."

Lizzy squeaked as if she were actually upset by such a comment while Corey giggled and cocked her head to the side to check the angle that her swooping bangs made as they cut across her forehead and allowed the cute little freckles across her face to peek out from behind them.

"See!" she practically sang.

Lizzy finished putting on her favorite mocha color lipstick and sat onto the lid of the toilet. "I don't _see_ what's so unreasonable about agreeing to write a book," she said simply as she squeezed her arms together to check out her cleavage.

"Oh. You're writing a book then?" Anya asked as she shimmer dusted her own cleavage.

"_No_ she's _not_!" Corey practically shouted whirling from the mirror to stare Lizzy down. "I refuse to let her."

Lizzy scowled at her and pinched her lips into a bitch snarl.

Anya just chuckled softly. "Sure… right you go right on ahead with that Core." Anya grabbed her second shade of eye shadow and dusted the corner and bottom edges of her eyes. "So Liz do you think I'll be a central or minor character in this book?"

"Well-"

"There _is_ no book!" Corey was somewhere in between pleading and yelling. "If Lizzy writes this book, it will be for all the wrong reasons!"

"I wasn't aware there was a right reason to write a book," Lizzy said simply and smiled at her best friend.

"There isn't." Corey stood right over top of Lizzy and stared down at her. As Lizzy tried to avoid reciprocating eye contact she instead chose to watch the peeking slice of skin on Corey's belly that stuck out of the bottom of her sparkling, tiny, red shirt. "But there are _wrong_ ones, and free publicity just happens to be one of them."

"There's no such thing as bad publicity," Lizzy replied smiling as Anya broke out her jasmine lotion and the scent of flowers filled the small bathroom.

"That's a lie," Corey said sternly. "Say you write this book and the next thing you know the radio host that can't be tamed is spilling her heart out to the world. Suddenly people start to think they know you and then you become predictable."

"So?" Lizzy asked eyeing her wearily.

"So if you're predictable you lose your shock value. That's what people love so much about you Lizzy! Plus there's the whole Sparkle image. I mean there mere name implies fluff."

Lizzy shook her head. "That's stupid. I can't believe that was your major point for convincing me not to do this."

"Yeah," Anya turned from the mirror and looked at Corey, "if anything people would like her more if they can sympathize with her. It's not like it would make her show any less funny."

"Plus people like that I tell the truth so why wouldn't they like me telling the truth about myself?"

Corey shot her a stone faced look and quickly pushed her way out of the bathroom. Lizzy and Anya, after she untangled her wavy long, light brown hair from the straightener, followed her into their cozy, little living room.

Corey grabbed her heels from the pile of shoes by the door and wrapped and tied the ribbon-straps around her ankle. "You know I'm not an idiot Lizzy," she muttered as Lizzy sat on one side of her on the couch and Anya on the other. "Do you honestly think I don't know who the top editor of Sparkle is? Do you think I don't know who she just recently got engaged to?"

Lizzy fell back into the cushions of the sofa hoping they'd swallow her whole and she'd just disappear. "It's not what you're thinking."

"What?" Anya cast her eyes between the two of them trying desperately to pick up clues from them. "What _about_ Sparkle? What _about_ her fiancé?"

Corey stomped her laced wedge down and grabbed the other one to furiously wrap that one. "Will Darcy, Anya! Will Darcy is the head editor of Sparkle's fiancé!" She pulled her laces too tight and had to loosen them, but thin red lines were left behind.

"_Will_, Will?" Anya asked eyeing Lizzy.

However it was Corey that replied. "Yes_ that_ Will. Will who broke our dear Lizzy's heart freshman year of college and we had to spend hours with as she cried her freaking eyes out."

Lizzy scowled. "I didn't cry for hours. I didn't even care that much."

"Oh _please_ after he broke-" Anya stopped herself and decided to rephrase. "After you two broke up I had to keep you at a consistent level of drunk just to keep you from breaking down. Then I had to keep you within my sight so you didn't pick up more random guys and bring them back to the dorm."

Lizzy scowled again. "I wasn't that bad-"

They both shot her a look that contradicted such an idea. "Ok so I was bad but I'm fine now. Hell it's been seven years! You really think I'm not over it by now?"

"Lizzy I love you, but if you're only agreeing to this book because you have some sick grudge with the woman that's marrying the only man you've ever loved then you need to pull out now," Corey said sweetly as she gently moved her foot back to the floor.

"Yeah Lizzy-girl. That's major bad chi; you could have bad karma for years after a stunt like that!" Anya shouted across the apartment after she'd wondered back into the bathroom to finish her hair.

Lizzy rolled her eyes then turned to Corey. "I promise you I'm over him. I mean some people only have one love their entire life and others have a new one every week. I'm definitely the second kind."

"So then… this thing with Christian? Did he drop the L-bomb?"

Lizzy suddenly went rigid. It wasn't the fact that Corey had managed to switch the topic from her old boyfriend to her new so quickly, but the entire fact that the two could even be mentioned in the same conversation. Christian was… well Christian was a typical musician. Not much else happened in his life that didn't involve music or drugs and therefore he couldn't be characterized as anything but those two things. A musician and a drug addict. Maybe those two actually entailed the same thing.

"Lizzy? Earth is calling…" Corey sang into Lizzy's ear.

"No. No L-word," Lizzy muttered snapping back to what was happening before her.

Corey gave a frustrated sigh and cocked her neck around at different angles. "Lizzy I know that things with Will seemed to end very unfairly but… geese Lizzy _seven years_… he's obviously moved on, you should too."

Lizzy smiled falsely and couldn't help but feel kind of like Melanie and her fake façade. "I _am,_ Corey. I've told you a thousand times and you just have to trust me to know that I'm okay."

Corey smiled at her. "So you're not plotting some sort of evil wedding sabotage for the dear Miss. Melanie Slaide?"

"Um… no?"

Corey smiled and knocked Lizzy's shoulder playfully. "It's fine Lizzy. There's no fun in having exes if you can't torture them a little."

Anya then emerged from the bathroom and began whispering words in a language that neither Lizzy nor Corey understood but knew for a fact to be Indian as she lit an oddly shaped, red candle.

"What are you doing? That thing smells horrible!" Corey practically shouted while covering her mouth as if to protect it from the stench. Lizzy chose to use a pillow as her preferred form of ventilation.

"I'm praying," Anya muttered once she'd finished her chant. "The way I see it, Lizzy's gonna need all the help she can get."

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_I really liked Anya (pronounced Aun-yuh) and Corey. I kind of just thought of them as like the two most predominant of Lizzy's personalities. Corey's her logical side and Anya is her more unconventional side. Now wouldn't you love to be roommates with your own personalities?_

_I just thought they were funny._

_Maybe if you guys review I'll let you meet Will..._


	4. Chapter 3

_This is my friend Will. He's a bit of an idiot but you'll love him anyway._**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 3_

Will Darcy picked up his folder and skimmed over the frighteningly thin figure. Her bones protruded and angled at angles so extreme that he felt as if perhaps, if she couldn't get a job in the music biz, she could always take-up the role of the scissors on some sort of medical show. _Or the anorexic._

He grabbed the next file and popped the CD that fell out of the folder into his computer. It wasn't a demo as he'd thought it would be but a very beautifully cut and designed record that the guy- _Christian_ he noted as he checked the folder- had obviously pulled all the strings he could manage just to make.

He checked out the picture that accompanied a couple of other sheets of mundane personal details within the folder, and studied the guy with every ounce of perception he could manage.

Two major thoughts first rose to the surface of Will's brain. The first being about the fact that through the mop of black hair and the tight jeans, Will couldn't honestly tell if this guy was attractive or not; the second was a common thought in the world of music, a_nother drug addict._

This guy, this Christian guy, didn't even seem to try and hide his addiction to most likely any substance he could get his hands on as well as a steady stream of alcohol. He had dark circles under his eyes that made him appear to look like a raccoon. His eyes were pink, in what Will was hoping was just bad film exposure, and his bony fingers honestly held a rolled cigarette, or possibly joint, in between his middle and index fingers. Will knew what this guy was all about, based solely on his leather vest that showed off his wiry arms and red electric guitar he had slung over his shoulder. He didn't really care at all about his music; he just wanted to be a "rock star."

Will would to have loved to trump this shmuck's dreams in an instant, over the years he'd gotten quite good at it, but despite all of his first instincts about the guy's appearance the melody from the CD wafted around Will's office and filled it with a beat. Will immediately knew everything he needed to know about this beat, he'd also done that part of his job for years, and this was a beat that would sell.

"Georgie," he shouted into his intercom system while he held the little red button.

Immediately a tiny, and very fit, little brunette girl that couldn't have been more than 23 stumbled through the door to Will's office. "Yes master?" she asked with a sarcastic edge of defiance.

Will scowled and gestured for her to come over to his desk. First he handed her razor-girl's portfolio. "This girl doesn't need a music contract," he said as he scribbled something into his date-book, "she needs a nutritionist."

Georgie took the folder and chuckled a little. "I'll make sure she knows that."

"This guy," Will held up the picture of the drug attic, "does he seem like the type of jerk that girls will fawn over and faint at his feet?"

Georgie grabbed the picture and examined it closer to her face. "He's pretty damn hot, Will. I'd probably do him."

Will shuddered at such an idea. He knew Georgie would like him based solely on his mess of black hair. _How can she designate someone to be hot when she can't even make out their features? He could have a pig's nose for all she knew._

"Thanks I'm now scarred for life," he muttered and pulled out the next file.

"What's his name?" Georgie asked still staring into the picture as if it had transfixed her.

"Don't even think about it," Will warned knowing without even looking at her exactly what she was thinking.

Georgie finally pried her eyes from the picture and watched Will as if she were offended. "Will I can't believe you'd think that of me. I was merely wondering in the off chance that you were planning on signing him."

Will looked back up to her a minor smile playing at his lips. "Right. Sure… his name's Christian."

Georgie's eyebrows quirked and she looked even more excited, as if his name alone made him hotter in her eyes. "No last name?"

"Nope. No last name."

"That's very hot right now," Georgie replied mostly to herself, but Will picked it up.

"Not having a last name is popular?"

Georgie rolled her eyes. "For someone who's supposed to help set trends you sure are behind with the times," she stated as she paper clipped the picture back into the file. "Not having a last name adds to the whole mystery thing, Will. It's just hot," she finished with a lame shrug.

"Alright then," Will groaned puffing out a big breath that caused the papers on his desk to tremble in a miniature hurricane. "We'll bring him in, but if he's too strung out to function, the deal is off."

Georgie smiled excitedly and bounced around in her kitten heels in a way that caused her boobs to jiggle. Will, never in a million years, however, would have noticed this.

"Any messages from the day?" he asked simply as he packed the last few of the folders, he hadn't managed to get through that day, into his top drawer where they'd greet him first thing tomorrow morning.

Georgie tried not to wince. "Nope. None," she said clinching her teeth and smiling.

"Tell them to me Georgie," Will replied without missing a beat.

Georgie released a breath as if she'd been holding it for an hour. "The sea witch called and said she'd meet you at the Ivy for dinner and mom wants you to call her about you and _Melanie,"_ she ground out Melanie's name as if it were the spawn of all that is evil, "meeting her for lunch sometime this week to discuss some plans for your funeral- I mean wedding."

Will looked at her with a contorted face that mingled together disappointment and anger into one single emotion. "I know you're not crazy about Mel but if you don't stop doing that-"

"Doing what?" Georgie asked feigning innocence.

"Calling my fiancée 'the sea witch,'" he replied sternly.

Georgie rolled her eyes again. "I can't believe you're going to-"

"Don't say it Georgie!" Will bellowed. "It's already done. I've asked. She's accepted. You now have to live with that."

"When you marry this chick you forget that she not only becomes _your_ wife- that's a permanent term my friend- but she also becomes _my_ sister-in-law." Georgie was practically stomping around in Will's office as if she were on a tirade. "So don't you see how you marrying the spawn of Satan affects my life?"

Will protested calmly, "She's not the spawn of Satan-"

"But she's no Lizzy either!" Even Georgie was shocked that she'd actually said that aloud. She expected Will to stand up and yell or his eyes to alight with some sort of passionate fire that usually burned with the mention of the infamous name.

None of that happened. The usual fire quickly smoldered and died as he fell back into his million dollar chair and studied her. "That's never going to happen, Georgie. I gave up on that. Why haven't you?"

Georgie shook her head and scowled this time it was her expression mingled with disappointment. "If you really think that's true then go off and make the biggest mistake of your life."

Will stared at her seriously, as she met his gaze with head-on defiance. "Tell Melanie I'll meet her at the Ivy at eight," he muttered then grabbed his date book back out. "And schedule that meeting with Christian for Friday."

Without a word Georgie shot him a stone faced look of pure contempt and slid easily out of the room. She may be his little sister but she still contained some sense of self control.

As she shut the door in her wake Will instinctively checked his clock. _5:15._ He'd missed the first fifteen minutes, but he dialed his internet radio to the correct station and laughed his way through the next forty-five minutes…

Just as if he was back in high school again.

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_Georgie is one of my favorites!! She'll be in the next two chapters as well... just so you know..._

_I love Capt'n Crunch!_

_Ok ok so is Will still in love with Lizzy? I know... but do you?_


	5. Chapter 4

_hmm... I think I honestly have nothing to say!

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 4_

"Lizzy Morgan is that you?"

Lizzy spun around on the squeaky tile floor and faced the voice that had chased her as she hustled down the white hallway. It came from behind a desk where a little brown haired girl sat staring at Lizzy as if she'd recently seen a ghost. Perhaps it was Lizzy that was the ghost. She couldn't tell anymore because in this white, uncontaminated hallway she certainly felt like she was dead.

"Georgie?"

Lizzy walked closer to the glass desk where the girl sat amongst a clutter of pictures of famous rock stars, phones, computers, and other technological stuff that even if Lizzy knew the name of she had absolutely no clue how to operate. The girl smiled and her entire face lit up with the action. She didn't seem surprised to see Lizzy, as if she'd been expecting it for months, but she did, however, look relieved.

She stood and quickly came around the desk, pulling off her headset and leaving a ringing phone to buzz away, and Lizzy noted how much this girl had grown since she'd last seen her. She'd been 16 at the time and wore jeans as if they were the key to civilization. Now she wore a cute little dress that was probably the product of a thousand dollars and some top designer. She wore fashionable wedges that Lizzy distinctly remembered drooling over in last month's issue of Glamour. She had a light powdered line of eye shadow dusted across her top eyelid but outside of that it seemed as though she wore absolutely no makeup. Everything about looking into the face of this girl reminded her that she wasn't 16 anymore but that Georgiana Darcy was now 23.

Except her smile. Lizzy thanked god that she still wore the genuine smile that drove the boys back home nuts.

"What are you doing here?" Georgie asked as she wrapped Lizzy into a comfortable hug that would have melted even the stiffest of hearts.

Lizzy relaxed in Georgie's arms and then stepped back to examine her more fully. Lizzy'd always known Georgie to be pretty but it was undeniable that she was now only able to be described as gorgeous.

"My boyfriend had a meeting about some sort of record-thingy," Lizzy replied absentmindedly and whirled her hand around by her ear dismissively. "He wanted me to drop him off or something."

Georgie's face reached a new level of delight as she went from sparkling with happiness to glowing with it. "Are you implying that your boyfriend is Christian the new vocalist my brother just signed?"

Lizzy tried not to wince and achieved a smile instead. "Yes I guess. I wasn't aware anything was signed yet though."

Georgie practically squeaked in excitement. "Oh my god! There is a god!"

"What?" Lizzy replied staring at the beautifully insane girl before her.

Georgie squeaked again. "This is _too_ perfect. I mean I knew you'd show up eventually to save me from the evil sea witch but under these circumstances- Oh it's just _so_ perfect!"

Lizzy took another step back from the girl as she squeaked again. She could easily assume who "the evil sea witch" was but how did the bizarre twist of fate about her boyfriend mean anything to the life of Georgie Darcy.

"Jo, are you okay?" she asked hesitantly and Georgie finally managed to regain her composure as she stepped back up to Lizzy excitedly.

"I'm sorry... I'm getting ahead of myself," she sighed pressing her hand to her chest to help cool her racing heart. "Will's engaged."

"I knew that. To Melanie Slaide."

Georgie smiled evilly. "Have you ever _met_ Melanie Slaide?" she asked.

Lizzy nodded once.

"And what did you think of her?"

Lizzy hesitated for a second then remembered that this was Jo. This was Georgiana Darcy who she chaperoned on her first date and taught how to body surf. "She's a complete cow."

Georgie smiled again and shook in excitement. "I knew you'd show up eventually. There's no way fate would let my brother make the biggest mistake of my life."

Lizzy stopped and smiled. "You mean _his_ life?"

Georgie dismissed the comment with a twirl of her hand just like Lizzy had done. "Will's _miserable_. He just won't admit it yet."

Lizzy shrugged. That was the worst type of miserable. The kind where it ends up biting you in the ass a couple of years down the road.

"But you're here now and with your boyfriend as Will's new little project he'll have to put up with having you around." Georgie was rambling as if Lizzy wasn't even around as she wondered around the hall and back to her desk to scribble a "Back in five minutes" note for her boss and led Lizzy out of the building.

She led Lizzy a couple of yards down the street and right into the little café that was frequented by her favorite person in the world.

"So do you have a plan yet?"

Lizzy joined in on the excited squeal for a moment. "No. But I have a book."

"A book?" Georgie's eyes got a mischievous glint as she smirked at Lizzy. "Would that book happen to be sponsored by my favorite editor at Sparkle Publishing?"

Lizzy smiled back. "I must say that it is."

"Oh god it's _just _so perfect." Georgie rolled her head back on her shoulders as if it were, perhaps, some sort of orgasmic experience. "We could torture her to no end."

Lizzy shrugged and smirked. "We could."

"I'm thinking that some sort of double date should be arranged. You bring Will back to the good old days and-"

"Um I don't think so," Lizzy interjected as a waitress came up to her and she quickly ordered a tropical smoothie after a short mental protest about the fact that it was nine dollars. "I don't think Will and I being in the same room is such a good idea."

Georgie rolled her eyes and looked slightly put out. "Oh _come on_ Lizzy. You two were practically meant to be together."

Lizzy winced skeptically. "I used to think that for about an entire year after things ended. Like if I just waited it out that eventually we'd end up together but… Will's made his choices. I've made mine." Lizzy shrugged. "I'm so incredibly happy with my life right now."

Georgie leaned toward her from across the table and with a face of complete seriousness asked, "So do you think you'll marry Christian then?"

Lizzy looked at her as if she'd just been asked if she'd announced her engagement to a shark. "Oh _god_ no."

"But-"

"I will never end up anywhere with Christian. But the thing with Will… I just got hurt so bad Georgie. I don't think I could ever willingly step back into that whole thing."

"So I have to put up with the sea witch all by myself?" Georgie whined looking sadly pathetic. Almost like a dead fish.

Lizzy grinned once again. "No." She then leaned forward to mirror Georgie's own pose. "Torturing Melanie Slaide is one thing I can definitely do."

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_Oh LIzzy Corey would be so proud of you if she could see you now._

_The next chapter is... weelllllll its got some Will... and some Melanie... and possibly a little Georgie. Oh and maybe I forgot to mention that Lizzy's in it too._

_Can you spell drama? (Obviously I can)_

_So what will you do to make me post it faster? (This is what I call blackmail)_


	6. Chapter 5

_Hmm not so sure... oh what the hell!_

_Have fun watching Will squirm._**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 5_

If Will Darcy knew a way to become invisible he would probably spend his entire life that way.

"Will? Are you even listening to me?" Melanie asked smiling sweetly. That was one of the things Will loved most about Melanie, she never got angry or crude. If something upset her she'd save it for an appropriate time or place, but she made sure to never make a scene in public. At times like this, that was a very much appreciated trait.

"Huh?" Will snapped his attention back to his girlfr- _fiancé_ and smiled. "Of course I am. What else would I be doing?" It just goes to show that Will had absolutely control of his body when his eyes automatically gazed back across the little café to the same two people that had occupied his thoughts.

"How am I supposed to believe that you're listening to me when I can clearly see you looking in the opposite direction?"

This time, Will couldn't even bring himself to force his eyes back to Melanie. It definitely wasn't that Melanie wasn't the most amazing person to look at, because believe Will, _she is_, with her shiny dirty blonde hair and gorgeous smile (not even to mention her perfect ten figure). No, it wasn't anything to do with Melanie at all in fact.

It was his little sister. Well, only partially his little sister. Primarily it was the girl that had followed his little sister into the café and now sat across from her with a smoothie in hand and the type of smile that Will could place even if he were blind.

Melanie was quickly becoming impatient. How dare anyone be preoccupied with anything but her, in _her_ presence? "What are you even looking at?" she asked trying to angle her line of vision to see whatever it was Will was so intent on. All she saw was his sister and a plain looking girl that would easily blend into a crowd if it wasn't for her magnetic smile and familiar face.

"What's your sister doing with Lizzy Morgan?" she asked blankly.

"You _know_ Lizzy Morgan?" Will asked as his attention quickly snapped back to his lunch companion.

Melanie shrugged and looked at him with quizzical eyebrows. "Ye-es. Is that some sort of problem?"

Will looked her up and down. On some sort of conscience level he took into account the giant ring on Melanie's finger and the binder she held in her lap filled with choices for their wedding invitations. He noted her confusion but didn't perceive a single note of jealousy. Then, automatically, he thought about Lizzy and his sister sitting at that nearby table and the entire multitude of things they could be discussing.

His mind immediately jumped to the worst.

"Under what circumstances did you meet Lizzy?" he asked slowly trying to keep his face as calm and blank as he possibly could.

Melanie smiled as if she too had just had an epiphany. "Will, are you into some sort of payola scandal?"

Will chuckled for a second. "You're not going to like what I'm about to tell you," he muttered once he'd finished his quick laugh and taken a deep breath, "but you should watch out for Lizzy. She and I have some… issues."

Melanie eyed him as if he'd just told an ostentatiously unbelievable lie. "You have issues with Lizzy Morgan?" To her it seemed more likely that Will would be caught up in a payola scandal rather than have a personal life with the rebellious radio host.

Will nodded once. "She's my ex girlfriend."

Melanie's entire face seemed to melt off her body. Her eyes turned down at the corners, her cheeks slumped, and her bottom jaw dropped all in one quick motion. Two thoughts first entered her mind. The first being: _I just signed a book deal with my fiancé's ex._ The second, of course: _I am so much hotter than her_.

Will tried waving his hand in front of her face to snap her back into reality. "It was seven years ago. She hadn't even picked her major, yet alone become successful."

He'd said it hoping to help but he hadn't thought that maybe that would make things worse. The thought, of him being with her before she even had a name to rely on or make her seem special, would only seem to make things worse had Melanie thought it.

Lucky for Will, Melanie couldn't get passed the Gap jeans and the thickness of Lizzy's thighs.

Eventually, once Melanie had fully weighed-up Lizzy and self pronounced her to be no more glamorous or hot than Melanie had thought her on their first meeting, she stood resolutely. "Well I think I should go say hello."

"What?" Will tried to grab her hand as she stood and pull her back into her seat. "Why?"

Melanie smiled again, in what Lizzy would love to call her pseudo-smile, and kissed Will softly on his shocked lips. "Because she's my client."

"Client?" he asked but the words had to chase her across the café as Melanie floated her way toward the window table where Georgie Darcy quickly hushed her companion's laughter.

"Lizzy Morgan I thought that was you!" Melanie said brightly as she finally reached the table.

Lizzy looked up at the woman and compulsively had to smirk. She tried to hide this as she cupped her face pretending to shade the sun from her eyes. "Oh hi" -_Evil Sea Witch- _"Melanie."

"Hello Mel," Georgie grumbled, not even bothering to play along. That was even so far out of Georgie's character that Melanie would have immediately called her out on it.

Melanie shot her a patronizing glare and didn't even bother with a greeting. "Will and I were just wondering-"

"Will?" Georgie asked suddenly very brightly.

"Yes he's over there." Melanie pointed across the café to where, once again, Will was practicing his art of invisibility.

Lizzy shot only a quick look across to Will then immediately made herself as small as she could in the confines of her chair. She hadn't laid eyes on Will Darcy since the day he'd told her about the horrible thing he had done and she'd slammed a door in his face amid a myriad of tears and yells. How could she now, after seven long years, just look him over as if nothing had happened? As if he were a stranger?

As Georgie got up, and practically carried her brother over to their table, Lizzy realized that in few seconds she would have to. How hard could it be? After all this time he practically _was_ a stranger.

"Hello," Lizzy muttered trying furiously not to actually look at him.

Georgie sat back into her seat and Melanie pulled around a chair for herself and Will. "So tell me everything you have done for the book so far!" Melanie said excitedly and Lizzy remembered the mask she seemed to wear around people. _I wonder what she looks like when she takes it off._

Will and Melanie sat as close to each other as is physically possible and Lizzy could tell, without even looking that their hands were clasped beneath the table. _Once upon a time that had been my hand._

Georgie talked them through the next five minute, for which both Lizzy and Will were grateful, then Lizzy made a quick pardon and left as fast as she could and without ever even attempting to make eye contact with Will, nor Will to her.

As she left the café alone she wondered about the evil person that designed the world. _Why is it so easy being in love and so hard to forget it?_

But in the end it didn't really matter why life was so hard sometimes, because when she'd get back to her apartment she'd steal some of Corey's food (like she has the time or patience to grocery shop) and they both would watched all the chick-flicks a girl could ever dream of and moan about how unfair it is that the guy in "Never Been Kissed" got to be so hot while simultaneously helping Anya prep for a date with a stockbroker.

Some things in life really do get to come easy. And stay that way.

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_:D!_

_Ok now you guys know how much I love reviews!_

_Now help console me because I just found out the date of the end of my childhood. July 21. HP is over. I'll never be a kid again._


	7. Chapter 6

_This is like my favorite chapter . I dont know why though._**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 6_

Lizzy stood in front of the cabinet, staring blankly at the cereal boxes before her, and only thinking mildly about the fact that cereal boxes even exist because, to be honest, cereal boxes were the farthest thing from Lizzy's mind at that moment.

That is until she sighted Anya's box of Capt'n Crunch. Then she was snapped right back into a normal world where cereal boxes don't just exist but exist to bring joy and cheer to small children and twenty-something women who have serious issues.

She quickly grabbed the box and poured it into the largest bowl she could find then drenched it with the remaining milk from Corey's jug.

_It's the simple things in life,_ she thought as she heard the phone ring from the hidden depths of her apartment.

Corey stomped into their tiny kitchen and scowled, clutching the phone to her chest to muffle whatever she was about to say. "Lizzy it's your new best friend on the phone," she said bitterly then slammed the phone down onto the table which caused Lizzy's Capt'n Crunch to jump in their bowl.

Lizzy slowly picked it up. If it was someone that could possibly make Corey that mad in the five seconds since Corey had answered the phone then it is safe to assume that Lizzy wouldn't love to talk to this person. "Hello?"

"Oh Lizzy! I'm so glad you're home. I thought maybe you'd be out, since it's Saturday and all, but I'm glad you're not."

Not many people Lizzy knew would actually seem excited by Lizzy's lack of a social life on a Saturday night (it'd been a tough week) so it was safe to assume that the woman Lizzy most wanted to suffer was on the other end of the phone. "Melanie?"

"Yes. Who else would it be silly?"

No matter what Melanie Slaide believes, Lizzy does have friends, her best of which was holding up her recently emptied jug of milk with a very evil glare on her face.

Lizzy chose not to comment on her egocentracism. (Which is Lizzy's new word.) "What can I do for you _Melanie?"_ She had to make a mental note to not call her the "evil sea witch." It really was quite a fetching nickname for her.

Lizzy could practically hear her fake smile over the phone as her voice slid through the reciever. It was such a oily sound that it felt as if snakes were slithering into Lizzy's ear. "Well I was just talking to little 'ole Georgiana and she thought it would just be the best thing in the world, and I totally agree with her, if you and I were to have some 'out of the office' time together! Doesn't that just sound _fabulous_?"

To Lizzy that didn't sound _"fabulous" _and "little 'ole Georgiana" was about to get the ass kicking of her life. "Er I guess… if you really want..." For someone who was never nice to anyone she didn't have to be nice to, Lizzy sure was being accepting of Melanie.

Denial told her it was because she thought that would be the best way to torture the woman. Her real thoughts told her it was because she had Will.

Corey sat at the table and watched Lizzy in an awkward state that is very rare to catch Lizzy in.

"_Perfect!" _Melanie squeaked through the phone. "When are you free?"

Lizzy paused. Whichever night Corey would be free to tag along and rescue her. "Which night?" she said into the phone as she silently shot Corey a plea for help.

Corey sighed and returned her look with a "you'll owe me your first born child" type of look then whispered, "Tuesday," because she knew that on Wednesday morning Lizzy had a big meeting with some sort of television executive and therefore the perfect excuse for an early night.

"How's Tuesday?" Lizzy asked into the phone.

"Any night that's good for you and Christian is great for me!" the phone replied brightly.

"Christian?" Lizzy asked slowly.

The phone giggled and Lizzy had the overwhelming urge to hurl it at the wall. "Well of course silly! Georgiana mentioned him and I'm just _dying _to meet your boyfriend!"

She spoke as if she was highly convinced Christian didn't actually exist. The truth was for Lizzy he didn't exist as a boyfriend, just a random guy she sometimes invited over when she was lonely.

But Lizzy would never in a million years let Melanie Slaide know that. "Christian would love to be there!"

"Excellent," the phone sang back. "Tuesday night it is!"

Lizzy hated that everything she said was so damn perky and bright. Everything about this girl was regulated for customer satisfaction.

"Can't wait," Lizzy replied trying desperately to mock her brightness but it came out sounding strangled. No one can fake if like Melanie.

Corey just shot her a "you're in too far over you head" look then put her milk jug beside Lizzy's cereal bowl with a note on it in sharpie that said, "You owe me milk!"

"Ok I'll just have to call Will to make sure he can come but if there's any conflict I'll just call," Melanie said quickly and Lizzy had trouble catching the full impact of her words until a whole ten seconds after Melanie had hung up on her line and Lizzy was still clutching the phone.

Lizzy stared at her bowl of saturated, soggy cereal and suddenly felt sick. She couldn't eat that now. Melanie had even drained her of her love of cereal.

"You okay there babe?" Corey asked sweetly rubbing her back as Lizzy pushed the bowl away from herself.

Lizzy shook her head. "Will's going to be there. I can't face him."

Corey sat in the chair beside her and tried to smile reassuringly. "Yes you can. You've already seen him once. That's the hard part."

Then Anya wondered into the kitchen in an immaculate black dress (which, with one less inch of fabric wouldn't even be called a dress) and immediately growled. "Lizzy you ate my cereal!"

She then wandered over to the table and peered into the full bowl of Capt'n Crunch. "There's still cereal in here," she said slowly then noticed that Corey was holding onto Lizzy's shoulder. Personal contact with Lizzy was only permitted under special circumstances. "Who died?" Anya asked blankly.

Corey shot her a look. "Don't you have a date with a stockbroker or something?"

Anya brushed the comment aside, rich date or not, she'd stay if Lizzy needed her to. "What happened, Liz?"

Lizzy tried to manage a feeble smile. "I'm fine," she muttered.

"No she's not," Corey said for her. "She just accidentally agreed to a double date with Will Darcy and his fiancé."

Anya's jaw clenched. "Cancel it. Tell him you're dying or something."

Lizzy and Corey turned to look at her. Anya was a very Zen oriented person. She never got angry. She never snapped. And she never lied. That would be bad karma.

"She can't do that," Corey replied eventually. "Then they'd know they got to her."

"It's not a competition," Anya replied. "If she doesn't want to face her cheating ex-boyfriend and his bitchy fiancé then she shouldn't. Pride be damned."

Corey rolled her eyes and started to argue, but before she got a word in Lizzy stood from the table and grabbed the phone, then left the room.

"See she's going to cancel as we speak," Anya said proudly as she grabbed her little, shiny purse she'd set on the table and swung it around.

"Don't be stupid," Corey replied as she stood and put the box of cereal back on Anya's shelf, while writing a sticky note to buy more milk. "She's obviously going to call Christian and make sure he can come."

The truth was, she wasn't doing either of those things. Instead she was sitting cross-legged on her bed and punching a regulated set of numbers into the phone.

"Eddie?" she asked the phone. "Is Erin there? I really need to talk to her."

The phone responded with compassion. "Yeah, Lizzy. She's been hoping you'd call soon."

Lizzy tried not to sniffle but the noise she made as she tried to hold it back resembled a sniffle more than she'd hoped.

Immediately the girl on the other line of the phone sighed. "So I guess that means you heard about Will."

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_Ok. Now 100 is like such a magic number! I would love to reach 100 and be the happiest person that ever has lived._

_Are you guys ready for the next chapter? Ok then you'll review. :D_


	8. Chapter 7

_I promised another update if I passed 100 and you amazing reviewers rock so here it is! The record should show that this wasn't going up until Tuesday... oh and Will's an idiot!_**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 7_

_Will slowly walked up the stairs. What would he even say once he reached the top?_

"_I'm sorry Lizzy but I fucked up?" Will wasn't brilliant but he knew that such a statement would leave him locked out of her life and most likely castrated. _

_He'd done a horrible, awful thing and now it seemed as though no words could ever fix things. He'd acted without thinking. He'd jumped to conclusions without asking questions and now he was walking the stairs to his own death._

_Eventually he reached the door he was seeking and without allowing himself to think he knocked once._

_Immediately the door opened on a brown haired girl and without a word the door was slammed closed again._

"_Corey! You have to let me talk to her," Will whined through the door._

"_I don't _have_ to let you do anything!" Corey shouted back. "When you break someone's heart you forfeit your right to see them."_

"_I have to explain it. I flew all the way to L.A. from England; you can't not let me see her."_

_The door opened a crack and the girl peeked through. "Fine, then explain it."_

"_To you?" he asked blankly._

"_Yes. Please explain to me the exact chain of events that led to you sleeping with a girl that wasn't your girlfriend."_

_Will stuttered. _

"_Maybe you should have done it sooner?" Corey asked coldly as she allowed the door to swing open the rest of the way. This seemed to only torture him as he could see the length of Lizzy's hair that spilled over the side of the couch where she was obviously asleep and oblivious._

"_Done what?" he asked staring at the hair and not the girl before him. He was so close to her._

_Corey shook her head sadly but kept her voice cold. "Maybe you should have flown out here instead of sleeping with that other girl if you thought things were rocky. If you'd tried to talk to her instead of letting the distance accumulate, then you would have been able to come in."_

_Corey pinched her lips with no ounce of remorse then closed the door again._

_There only seemed to be one place left to go, but instead Will pressed his back against the wall and let himself slide down it until her was sitting on the mildewy carpet. He'd stay as long as he'd have to._

Will pulled out a couple more files from his bedside table and immersed himself into the insignificant details of his latest artist. He was a minor client that should have meant nothing to Will but his association… his connections immediately sky rocked this Christian character right to Will's heart.

Melanie wandered into their bedroom from the adjacent bathroom wearing one of Will's larger t-shirts. She slowly spread herself out onto the bed beside Will displaying her recently mosturized legs in a way that made them shine. Will didn't even notice as he concentrated on the paper before him. She slid her finger down the length of his bare arm but was fairly unseccessful in her diversionary tactics. "Can we turn the lights out soon?" she asked as she finally gave up.

Will cast his eyes up at her quickly but the papers before him just seemed to be calling his name. "Just give me a couple more minutes," he muttered distractedly and in that moment he wasn't able to say exactly the name of the woman he was talking to. He didn't trust himself to not blend it with the name that was constantly on his brain.

"Is this Lizzy's boyfriend?" Melanie asked leaning over Will and picking up the same picture of Christian that had accompanied the folder. "He's pretty damn hot. Wonder what he sees in her," she muttered absentmindedly.

"What?" Will asked dropping the file and finally looking at the girl beside him in his bed.

"Nothing," she said vaguely but when Will continued to watch her she continued. "I just don't understand. What's so amazing about Lizzy? I mean she seems to get a lot of guys way out of her league."

"You mean you think Lizzy…"

"Isn't that pretty?" Melanie asked. She shot him a wince that said yes. "It's just she's kind of plain. There's nothing spectacularly hot about her."

"Wow," Will replied blankly taking his eyes off Melanie and staring straight ahead at the abstract painting that hung on the wall across from his bed. "I've never actually knew anyone that thought that about her," he said trying not to admit, even to himself, that in truth Lizzy was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen. She'd been fun and cute back in high school but now he thought it was undeniable that she was… amazing.

Melanie shrugged. "I'm sorry. Maybe she was prettier in high school."

Will looked at her again with his eyes confused and his eyebrows scrunched. "But Lizzy…"

"Lizzy what?" Melanie asked calmly, not at all worried but more intrigued. "What was it that attracted you to Lizzy way back then?"

"Um." He tried not to think about it. He tried not to remember the way her eyes laughed at the world, or that she blushed when she was angry. He tried not to remember her laugh, her lips, her smile, or the touch of her kiss. He tried not to remember but he failed miserably. "I don't really remember," he replied quickly and cleared his brain from the feeling of her skin against his, or how her hair always smelled of coconuts.

"Couldn't have been that great then," Melanie said smiling slightly and kissing him quickly before she curled up into a ball on her side of the bed. "Don't be long. You know I can't sleep with the light on."

Will sighed heavily then pulled all his documents back into the file. He shoved it all neatly back into the drawer and flicked off his light.

"Oh by the way," Melanie said through the pressing darkness, "I told Lizzy we'd meet her and Christian for dinner Tuesday. Don't make plans."

Will never bothered to reply. Instead he lay quietly until he finally heard Melanie's breathing even out as she drifted into sleep.

He, however, couldn't even get his eyes closed as he lay stiffly across the bed and tried to pretend it was Lizzy beside him and wrapping her arms softly around him as she snored her way through a tough night of sleep. She was a horrible sleeper. Eventually he gave up and crossed his giant apartment to his living room. He sat on his huge leather couch and tried to remember why he'd chosen a material that causes you to slide around as soon as you find a comfortable position. Why was it that Will's apartment was filled with ostentatious knick-knacks that served no purpose?

It wasn't that he didn't love his life. He was the best there ever was at his job. He had a gorgeous fiancé. He had everything he'd ever need for anything, but seeing Lizzy the other day had shocked him. The girl that had preached about her impact on the world and about breaking the mold merely served as a reminder to Will that he wasn't.

He was standard.

So instead he stayed up all night and the next day spoke to Georgie to have her find out about some sort of world wide charity that he could donate to in hopes that maybe it was only his own conscience that was keeping the girl on his mind.

People always wondered why Andrew Carnegie and J.D. Rockefeller and all the other great philanthropists of American history donated so many of their millions. Will now understood. It wasn't that they'd suddenly grown a conscience or that they had more they could ever use; they'd obviously met a girl that changed their lives.

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_Oh. It's a "hard knock life" being rich, eh?_

_Ok so that was my last pre-written chapter and I might get a bit behind after this so this is an apology in advance._

_Will's an idiot but you kind of love him anyway. Well at least I hope you do. Or at least you should by the end... but then you'll like Lizzy even more and I'm basically telling you the ending! I'm an idiot! (Not one quite as big as Will is... but still, I have very idiotic days.)_

_Ok. (The following should be read in a cheer format) R-E-V-I-E-W that's the way we spell review! Review! Let's write a review! Woo-hoo! (Oh my god girls that was like totally the best cheer EVER!)_


	9. Chapter 8

_A long(er) chapter! ... It's only 'cause I love you._**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 8_

Will slowly drummed his fingers across the glossy wooden table and tried to keep his eyes from rolling to the back of his head. He hadn't slept in days and the silence that stretched between him and Melanie as they awaited their guests was boring holes in his brain.

"What kind of horrible person shows up late to a dinner meeting?" Melanie asked tightly and Will tried to swallow his tongue. Preparing himself to see Lizzy was requiring all of his concentration. "I mean really!" Melanie continued not even realizing that she'd lost Will's attention. "How rude do you have to be?"

Will continued to ignore her as he poured himself a second (and not his last) glass of wine. As he tilted the bottle back up to cease the flow of the amber liquid he caught sight of a girl across the room in a form-fitting little black dress. She had glossy legs with her hair wrapped into a weird twisty thingy that Will would never know the name of. She was facing away from him as she asked the hostess a question but as another man came and wrapped his hand around her elbow she turned and he really wasn't as shocked as he should have been when he saw her.

Yes of course it was Lizzy, highly decked out (after careful planning that required the help of both Anya, Corey, and the friendly couple that lived across the hall) and ready to kill. She'd rented Christian a tux and as he escorted her across the room to the small table, where Will sat with his mouth agape and Melanie was making frustrated noises, she knew that women's eyes across the room followed him. He looked good in real clothes that hid his tattoos and with his mop of black hair parted and brushed. He was a wiry man, but the suit hid that well, and he was all too glad to allow Lizzy to dress him up for a fancy dinner date. He made it no secret that he thought this new record contract of his made him amazing boyfriend material and he thought this five star lifestyle was something he could get used to. Now that he was famous wouldn't it only be logical that Lizzy would want to get serious?

Melanie wiped her annoyed expression off her face once she recognized Lizzy, which took longer than expected. With Lizzy dressed up like so, Melanie had to momentarily question her previous impressions of Lizzy's beauty. _Obviously_, she eventually decided, _anyone can be gorgeous with enough help. _

"Lizzy I was so worried you weren't going to make it," Melanie trilled to mask the fact that she was secretly disappointed. If Lizzy hadn't shown Melanie would have had more than enough reason to trump the growing star in public. She supposed her being twenty minutes late would have to suffice.

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world," Lizzy replied sitting in her chair and shooting her a gleaming white smile that had sarcasm written all over it.

"Sorry we're late," the mop-top said in a deep voice that seemed almost a little eerie to Will for it to be coming out of such a thin man. "Lizzy was getting all hot for me." To different people this phrase meant different things. To Melanie it meant that Lizzy had spent hours in front of a mirror trying, for once, to make herself presentable. To Will, it meant that Lizzy spent hours in bed trying to get Christian to join her.

Lizzy interpreted both and rolled her eyes. "He wishes," she said softly but the entire table still heard her. While Melanie cackled, Will tried to laugh softly.

"Okay baby," Christian muttered as he quirked his eyebrows at her and wrapped his arm over her shoulder. "You can win this one."

Lizzy tried not to cower from Christian's touch or wince at the horrible use of the word "baby" (which in her personal opinion should only be used for people of three years or younger) but she'd never been much of an actress. Luckily, Will was too preoccupied with the man's audacity and Melanie too preoccupied with her own reflection in her silverware to notice the rapidly decreasing level of Lizzy's comfort.

As Melanie finally managed to break her staring contest with the spoon, that was so intense it would have put Narcissus to shame, she turned to Lizzy and Christian. "So I guess we're all past the formalities like jobs and stuff. What shall we talk about then?" Lizzy could easily have guessed that Melanie had created note cards regulating the conversation for the night. She could have guessed and she would have been right because, nestled safely in her $2000 Prada clutch, Melanie had created a small stack of note cards scribbled with possible ice breakers and awkward silence fillers. How else would she manage to keep the conversation centered? (Specifically around her favorite topic: herself.)

Melanie dominated the conversation for much of the night and even seemed to refuse to eat her food just because it might stand between her and expressing a single word. As soon as she saw Lizzy drop her fork and proclaim herself to be full Melanie stood. "Lizzy! Come to the bathroom with me."

Lizzy had never, in her entire life, taken well to being ordered about. She looked up and watched Melanie as if she was some sort of nut-case. (Which is still under debate.) "But I don't have to go to the bathroom with you," Lizzy replied not even making the pretense of following along. Every girl knows of the adequate conversation booth that the bathroom can provide and Lizzy and Corey commonly used this tactic to discuss their men of the evening when they were at clubs, but subjecting herself to more of the egotistical droning of Melanie Slaide was not a torture Lizzy felt she should inflict on herself.

Melanie shot her a look. Not many people dare to defy Melanie's wishes.

"Hell, I'll go to the bathroom with you!" Christian replied, much too loudly, as he stood and joined Melanie on her side of the table. "I've had to pee all fucking night…" Lizzy could hear him mutter as he dragged a reluctant Melanie to the bathrooms. _Very proper, _she thought as she tried to hide her smile that rose with the look of pure terror on Melanie's face.

Will glanced at her. He could tell, despite her blocking her mouth with her napkin, that Lizzy was trying to fight off a fit of giggles, so he took this as his opportune moment to speak his first words of the night, "You can laugh if you want to."

Lizzy gave a quick giggle then regained her composure in record time. Lizzy, back in the day, had been known for her inability to stop laughing once she'd started. "Thank you. I probably would have collapsed a lung if I'd tried to hold that in."

Will shrugged and looked at her, finally allowing himself to take her all in. She smelled of jasmine and her regular scent of coconuts, which sent Will's head into a tizzy, and her skin seemed much more muted than her old Florida tan, but her eyes; her sparkly green eyes still laughed at the world and in this precise moment that was specifically directed at Melanie. "So, Christian seems… nice," he replied quickly breaking his eyes away from her to keep himself from noticing anything else, as he distracted himself with what was left of his salmon.

Lizzy snorted and coughed. "I'm sorry," she said as she held up the water glass she'd been taking a sip from. "I choked on my water."

Will shrugged. "It happens to the best of us."

Lizzy tried not to snort again. "So I suppose that makes you one of the best then."

Will looked back up at her blankly. It was easy to tell that she still nursed scars that filled that statement with sarcasm. Now, however, was no time for apologies that should have been given years ago.

"So, Will, are you as totally, blissfully happy as Melanie commonly proclaims you to be?" That was Lizzy for you. No beating around the bush, no indirect questions, she could cut to the heart of the matter (which in this case just happened to be Will's heart) with the briefest of statements.

Will looked up at her coldly. "Are you?"

She could also cut straight to the point with her answers too. "With Christian?" She casually flicked her hand in the direction that Christian had drug Melanie off to. "Hell no. That's over, if it ever really started in the first place, which I don't recall to consenting to. But with the rest of my life? It's amazing. I love my jobs. I love my friends. I even love my tiny little apartment that I pay way too much for."

Will looked at her for a second. The way her lips spread across her face in a genuine smile only served as a reminder that his didn't. "So I suppose Erin asked you to be godmother then?"

Lizzy smiled even bigger. "Yes. And you, I suppose, are going to be the godfather?"

"'Say hello to my little friend,'" he replied doing his best Al Pacino impression.

Lizzy laughed for a second and smiled even wider. "Will, that was _Scarface_. Not _The Godfather_."

Will smiled back. "Oops."

"You're such an idiot," she replied as she continued to laugh quietly.

"I miss this, Lizzy," he found himself saying as he watched her try to suppress her giggles. "We used to be such good friends. Hell, we didn't even get to heckle Erin and Eddie at their wedding!"

Lizzy stopped her laughing, which appeared more as though she was having a heart attack, and looked at Will. "First off Will, I did plenty of heckling. I was the one that suggested they should elope when we were in Vegas. And secondly, you forget that before we were friends we hated each other's guts." She looked back up at him as he stared at her. "We've spent much more of our lives hating each other than we ever did liking each other."

Will hesitated before he replied, "Yes, but you forget that while you were hating me, I was falling in love with you."

Lizzy found herself without a reply as she drained the rest of her glass of wine. Witty rebuttals were her pride and joy, her major talent in life, and here she tried her best to cover the fact that Will was the one who had finally managed to transcend them.

"I am _so_ sorry!" Melanie chirped in, slightly breathless as if she'd ran back to their table, as she plopped down back into her seat beside Will. "I got a call that I just _had_ to take. You know how business is."

Will finally broke eye contact with Lizzy and looked to his left at Melanie. Was it wrong of him? All of it. Was it wrong to know, especially now that he was around her again, that it was Lizzy? It would always be Lizzy. "Oh. What about?" he asked Melanie, trying desperately to keep such a thought from his mind. He's engaged. He's engaged to a beautiful, high powered, non-gold digger… that he… that he… liked. That he liked a lot.

Melanie hesitated and stuttered for a second. For someone who had every word she ever said highly planned out, why did Melanie suddenly seem caught off-guard?

Lizzy controlled her eyebrows to prevent a look of confusion and watched as Melanie's eyes flashed with momentary panic. She then felt a hand slide across the width of her back as Christian walked past her and fell into his seat. "What'd I miss?" he asked slowly, his face flushed with a beaming smile.

"Can I get you any desserts?" the waiter asked politely as he displayed a beautiful tray of delicious desserts.

Lizzy knew how good that chocolate cake looked sitting nestled on the shiny, silver tray but she suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to get the hell out of that restraunt. She now, after her simple talk with Will, knew that a single word from her could send Melanie Slaide in to a spiraling pit that would quickly doom her "oh so perfect relationship."

Suddenly, it wasn't about making Melanie uncomfortable. If she meddled, she could destroy her. She wished she never had that power.

* * *

_Raise your hand if you think Lizzy overestimates her power._

_Now try to guess if my hand is raised!_

_hehe I need motivation for writing my next chapter. Reveiw or I could suffer serious brain trauma and forget my entire plot line. Hmmph thats would suck._

_Remind me how much I like you guys._


	10. Chapter 9

**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 9_

Lizzy Morgan was very good at what she did, and what she just happened to be doing at that moment was ignoring the incessant ramblings of the woman before her.

"So don't you see why you'd be the perfect person to host a talk show?" the woman droned flatly. "You could be the next Ricky Lake. People already love you for your honesty. This'll be your chance to straight up tell it like it is."

Although, her job did seem freakishly simple at times. Anyone can easily ignore the most annoying woman in the world.

Corey sat beside her, in the comfy leather chair, and nodded along with the woman. "I see what you're saying. Give Lizzy actual people, put her in a room with celebrities and she could make sparks."

Sparks? Lizzy had always considered herself more of a fire creator. She hated when Corey went into her pitch mode.

Lizzy stood quickly. "I really appreciate your offer," she said without a single ounce of personality or joy, "but I love radio, and I just don't think I'd be suited as 'the next Ricky Lake.'" She quickly got up and left the office while the woman stared after her with a slack jaw.

Corey hastily went into clean-up mode. "I'll be just a second," she said quickly then followed Lizzy out of the office. "What are you doing? Are you really so high and mighty that you won't even listen to what she's offering?"

Lizzy stared at her for a second. "You can't honestly expect me to consider that. I'd be horrible on TV."

"Lizzy this is an opportunity, for both of us. You skyrocket yourself to a family name and I can finally branch my company out a little bit."

Lizzy just shook her head sadly and left the building. When Corey finally caught up with her on the sidewalk outside, Lizzy was very angry. "Core I can't believe you'd even force me to come to this stupid meeting. I work in radio. I'm not some stupid talk show host."

"Is this about Will?"

Lizzy scowled harder. "God you sound like my mother! No it's not about some stupid guy that I couldn't give a damn about this is about my job!"

Corey watched her outburst in the middle of the street and drew back a little as Lizzy lay into her.

"I don't care about Will. I just want to be able to support myself with less than three jobs. I just want to actually be successful at what I do, not some washed up 30-year-old who should have listened to her mother." Lizzy eyes were alight but they now glowed with the horrible shadow of a person who had given up. A person who just couldn't handle it anymore. A person who finally got broken. And worst of all, a person who looked as though she'd seen it coming.

Corey managed to find a soft and comforting voice after she quickly swallowed a scared little squeak, "I want you to find all those things too Lizzy. Success, happiness, contentment, and even though I know you're about to pull away from me when I say this but I want you to find love."

True to form, and just as Corey had expected, Lizzy winced and literally took a step away from Corey.

"Lizzy this may have absolutely nothing to do with Will but I've seen the way your face falls at the mention of Melanie Slaide. I've seen how the mere idea of being in the same room as you steals all your words away. I saw last night how you were in a thousand pieces when you walked through that door after dinner. I would do anything to make him just disappear for you but the truth is you're stuck with him and if you just keep running, like you have for seven years, you're only going to hurt worse and this time you wont be able to feel better." Corey took a breath and watched as Lizzy's face quickly turned to stone. The cage was up; there was no point to talking now.

It's tough being best friends with an armadillo.

Eventually Lizzy looked back at Corey and cracked just a little. "I think we should go shoe shopping."

Corey checked her watch. Retail therapy. She could do that…

As Lizzy led her down to Sunrise she realized that although she couldn't help with the Will issue maybe she'd be able to help with the job. What kind of agent would she be if she didn't?

"Lizzy," she hissed as she caught up with her and looped her arm through Lizzy's, "are you trying to tell me you want to go national?"

About three months ago Lizzy had been offered a major step up. A _very_ major step up that would not only catapult Lizzy into a national radio station, but catapult her to a national radio station based out of New York City. Corey had been reluctant to bring it up. She wouldn't just be loosing a client if Lizzy took the gig, she'd be loosing a best friend, but as her manager she left it to Lizzy. Thankfully the amazing offer was turned down.

Lizzy had claimed New York to be too fast for her, but Corey knew that was her way of telling her that she'd accidentally formed attachments. (All attachments for Lizzy were accidental.) She'd formed them and accidentally got comfortable with her life. Maybe that had suddenly changed… Maybe now she just wanted out.

A fast paced distraction.

Lizzy shook free of Corey's contact (just as she always did) and smiled weakly. "I lied. It wasn't just about work."

Corey's interest was piqued and she watched Lizzy's face with interest. A confession? From Lizzy?

Lizzy sighed and entered a fresh little boutique with a famous selection of Jimmy Choos. As she picked up a gorgeous pink kitten heel she looked briefly at Corey. "If I tell you this you promise not to laugh?"

Corey wasn't dumb enough to agree to that as she handed Lizzy a sandal that would look really good with her new baby doll dress.

"Just tell me. You've obviously already decided to."

Lizzy smiled and tried to hold out another five seconds before her confession finally burst out. "Christian asked me to marry him last night."

Corey was very glad she hadn't agreed not to laugh as she burst out in the type of laughter that caused her to spit on her best friend. Luckily Lizzy didn't notice; she was too consumed in her own laughter.

Corey wiped a tear from her eye as her face began to turn red. "Seeing as you're not wearing a ring I don't need your response. What did _he_ say?" she asked smiling and trying to regain her composer as two pregnant ladies regarded them with alarm.

Lizzy rolled her eyes and gave one last laugh. "Something ridiculous. Not even worth repeating."

Corey showed an artsy beaded slipper to the nearest salesman and said, "Eight," then turned back to Lizzy with a look that clearly said she wanted clarification.

Lizzy gave the same salesman four shoes of her own and muttered a quiet, "Nine." She then laughed again for one more second. "Ok. Ok. He said I was the type of woman he wanted to take with him, and I quote, 'all the way to the top.'"

Corey winced. He'd always been an idiot.

"He then told me that I 'understood the type of lifestyle he wanted to live' and that I'd 'never stand between him and his dreams,'" Lizzy continued taking a seat as the poor salesman came back with a stack of boxes.

"And was he angry when you castrated him?" Corey asked taking her one box and the seat beside Lizzy.

Lizzy smiled. "Yes according to Christian being 'simple' is a desirable trait in a wife."

"Was Melanie around when this happened?"

Lizzy stared lovingly at the pink shoes as she tried them on. "Oh god no! It was in the taxi. I mean a _taxi_! How romantic!"

"So are things finally over?" Corey asked as she decided against her own shoes. They'd rip her feet to shreds and just weren't practical.

Lizzy nodded. "I just don't know who will be more upset; me or Melanie Slaide."

Corey smiled excitedly. "Well," she replied her voice laced with false mourning, "I guess that means no more double dates."

"Pity."

* * *

_not where I was going with that._

_For now you may think of Christian as Mr. Collins._ For now. _You will see him again later._

_ok. I started another story as many of you saw but Ive decided to wait on it. I outlined the whole thing so it's out of my head and no longer blocking this story for me. I like it a lot though so you should be excited._

_ok Im done._


	11. Chapter 10

_Gah! This took me forever. The stupid thing kept giving me errors everytime I tried to upload. Well I'm sorry it took so long. It wasn't my fault._**

* * *

**

**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 10_

_As soon as Will felt the door beside him move his eyes flicked back open. Even though logic immediately told him that it would merely be Corey coming to tell him to leave, he couldn't help that his heart sped up and did summersaults in his chest. It was possible that it could be her._

_She stepped from her dorm, wearing running shoes and workout clothes then quickly stopped in her tracks. She didn't say anything but she looked lost._

_It was Will's fault. He felt the consequences of his action drop onto his head like an anvil. He'd broken her. Her eyes didn't sparkle. Her ponytail no longer bobbed with laughter. Her cheeks weren't flushed with delight. All of it, everything about her had lost its passion. Its personality._

_Lizzy looked at him for a second then turned and walked the other way down the hallway. Will immediately jumped to his feet and chased her._

"_Lizzy," he hissed as he grabbed her arm and tried to spin her to face him but she refused. She quickly untangled herself from his grasp and continued down the hall without a noise. _

"_Lizzy," he hissed again, this time almost pleading as he grabbed for her again, but merely felt her skin slide out from under his as she rushed away. "Please just talk to me," he begged as he followed her down the hall._

_Lizzy stopped and spun to face him. Without a moment's hesitation she slapped him solidly across the face. Will's neck turned to absorb the blow but his cheek still ached with the impact. _

"_Talk," she said sternly. "Please explain to my why you saw fucking another as the perfect outlet for your frustrations."_

_Will tried to fumble with his words, "I didn't- Lizzy! I just missed you."_

_Lizzy snorted. "You know most people, when the miss somebody, just write a letter."_

"_You weren't responding." Will threw his hands up. "I'd tried calling you so many times and you never answered. I tried E-mails. They fell on deaf ears. Lizzy I tried calling Eddie to see if he could get through to you and he couldn't either." Lizzy's face turned solid, no expression crossed her path as Will continued, much gentler than he'd first began. "I tried every form of communication in the known world, but you'd just kind of disappeared. So I freaked out. I figured you'd cut yourself off. That you were done with me. And there I am sitting in a bar, drunk as all get out, and this girl," Lizzy winced, "well I couldn't help but think it was over with us. 'Lizzy's moved on Will, and here you are still crying over her,' so I just kind of… let go."_

_Lizzy took a step away from him. "And now you really can," she whispered softly._

"_What?" Will asked blankly._

"_Now you really can let go."_

"_No Lizzy," Will tried to fill the gap between them. "I don't want to let go. This whole thing has only served as a reminder that it's you-"_

"_I can't do it Will. If you'd bothered to get the whole story- If you'd just waited it out." Her voice was small and timid; a description Will had never in his life used to describe Lizzy. "I can't be with someone who would just take any girl."_

"_But-"_

"_Will. I can't. Especially not now," she replied sadly as she wandered back toward her dorm's door to retreat into her safe-place. _

"_Why can't we just go back to being okay?" he asked. He tried not to sound pathetic, but it was hard for him not to panic as he watched her slip right through his fingers and his world melt around him. How could it all just end? In an instant Will could see everything he loved about his life walk right through a doorway and slowly edge her door closed._

_Her eyes began to turn red and shiny and she tried not to be cliché. She promised she'd never let him see her cry. Stupid Lizzy. It's what you get for letting someone in._

"_I just can't do it Will." She wanted with all her might to close that door. She tried but as it got closer to the latch it seemed to become heavier with every inch. "Maybe someday when I don't get sick at the mere thought of what you did. Maybe someday when I can know you loved me, despite it all. But for now, for now it just hurts too bad to pretend it doesn't."_

"_Please don't close this door." He was past trying to pretend he didn't hurt. He put his hand softly on the door and watched her shake her head as it finally clicked closed._

_You didn't have to be a genius to know that there was nothing left to fight for._

_Will had never meant to do it. He'd never meant to destroy the one girl that took so long just to open up._

_She was difficult then. Now she was impossible._

_He could always blame himself for that._

Will really didn't know why he couldn't sit still. He'd had no sugar, no excessive amounts of caffeine, no recent stocking of carbs and yet he was pacing around his office trying to settle his nerves.

It was because he had a tick. An itch he couldn't scratch.

Mostly though, it was because yesterday afternoon he kissed his fiancé goodbye as she boarded a plane for a two week business trip. Media frenzy over Brittany Spears' life story or something stupid.

What did this mean? That if Will wasn't staring into the face of his own responsibility then he could never live up to it? He'd made that mistake before.

"Hey you. Yeah you, ADHD," Georgie said as she came into his office and stared at him as he paced furiously across his office. "Been drinking Red Bulls again?"

Will stared at her for a second before he could even grasp that she was there. "Huh?" Where was his brain?

"Ok psycho. So I was coming in here to say that I'm leaving, but you're a bit… off so can I get you anything?" she asked as she eyed him with a very perplexed look.

"Er no. You should go."

She shrugged. "Fine then," she muttered as she turned, along with the quieter phrase, "Freaking psychopath."

Under normal circumstances Will would have made some comment of recognizing his sister's insult but her muttering fell on deaf ears because Will's brain had recently gone numb.

The other night he'd tasted again what had taken him so long to numb himself from, and now no other thought could penetrate his brain.

"You do know it's five fifteen," Georgie yelled back to him as she stood in the doorway having not yet left.

Will stopped and faced her with a blank look.

Georgie rolled her eyes and made an exasperated noise. "Oh don't even pretend. You've never missed her show." When he made no move, or even any sign that he'd understood what she'd said she went over and turned on his radio for him. She gave him one last look that mingled boredom and worry then left him in his office.

Lizzy Morgan's voice floated through his radio and his heart began a sweltering ache. After seeing her again, and being able to talk to her as if no time had passed, a tugging and aching had overcome him. He couldn't give in to temptation.

Was it the fact that he'd always love Lizzy? Or was it that he could never be with anyone without desire taking over?

He barely remembered the circumstances that had ever led him to cheating when he was younger, but he did feel now, that horrible hole that made everything in his entire life seem… inadequate.

All of a sudden he just wanted her. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't sleep. Eat. Speak. He couldn't think unless he knew he'd have her in his arms again.

What did he want: The girl or the distraction?

No matter what it was, as he heard her voice fill his brain he couldn't suppress the urges that gripped him. He wanted her to make fun of him again. He needed her to play with his hair while they lay together in his bed. He needed her to press her skin against his, if only for an instant.

He needed to be around her.

So Will turned off his radio, it couldn't fill the void anyway. He didn't bother to turn off his laptop or even pack it up. He just left every little piece of his work exactly where it was and wandered out of his office, then his building, then halfway across the city. All just to stare desire in the face.

He had an itch. Some people just can't resist the scratch.

* * *

_Ok recently people have been telling me two major things: one, that there isn't enough interaction between Will and Lizzy, and two, that my chapters aren't long enough. The chapters are short on purpose. I figured that way I could update faster rather than making you wait a month and a half for the next chapter. My next story has longer chapters though but this one is shorter on purpose._

_Now as for the interaction thing: I'm getting there. There will be plenty of interaction between Will and Lizzy, we're just not at that point yet. I mean Hell in LIzzy's Guide there were entire months that Will and Lizzy refused to even talk to each other. _ _Anyway, what I'm really trying to say is that there will be interaction, starting in the next chapter (and there was some in this one)._

_Anyway. This chapter was kind of important. I think maybe there's something Lizzy has yet to confess... but we'll get there. The next few chapters take place in the same day so don't go thinking a ton of time will pass. _

_But I might need a break on how soon I can get my next chapter up. :/_


	12. Chapter 11

_This is kind of a three part chapter. Of course I'll post them all separate but they take place almost right after the other. Or at least in the same night._

_When Lizzy meets Will... interaction ensues._**

* * *

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 11_

There are two things in this world that Lizzy Morgan, try as she might, could not resist. The first, of course, being those dreaded Girl Scout cookies and the second (oh how it pained her that this was true) was Will Darcy.

It was only a little after six as Lizzy wandered out of the studio. She was searching frantically in her purse, which contains far too much crap to ever find anything easily, for her MP3 player for her walk back to her apartment when she heard someone call her name.

"Will?" she asked, or really more like grunted because protruding from her mouth was a chocolaty little thin mint, that she'd stolen from the guy that does the technical cuts and effects for her show.

He stood awkwardly before her, not really knowing what to say. "Thin mints?" he asked simply. It was the first thing that came to mind.

Lizzy was suddenly forced to make a choice. Finish her thin mint or quiz Will on the obvious questions, such as his reason for being present? Or even, if there was time, why a person such as him had to exist in the universe at all?

She quickly shoved the rest of the cookie down her throat, and tried not to regret her decision to forgo her savory cookie. "What are you doing here?"

Will shrugged. "If I knew, then maybe I wouldn't be here."

"Must you be so cryptic?" she asked as she tried to settle her purse back onto her shoulder. "Not everything has to be a riddle."

"Spoken like a true hypocrite." He stood before her with a flimsy smile gracing his lips and his hands in his pockets. Who was this guy?

"Quick wit? What poor soul did you suck that from?" She shot him a look then turned to walk back down the street. He may have learned more in the art of social interaction, but that didn't make said interaction welcome.

He took three quick steps to catch up with her then slowed his pace to match hers. "I'm not quite as horrible as you like to think."

She turned to him and stopped walking. "What _does_ the devil do with your soul these days?"

"Dancing. The devil takes my soul dancing."

Lizzy waggled her finger at him. "You hate to dance."

"But who's to say that my soul doesn't? Maybe my soul likes to dance and the world will never know because of the young age in which I sold it."

Lizzy couldn't help it. Just like when John the Tech guy went to the bathroom for a moment and she just had to steal some of his cookies. Now she just had to laugh. "I'm sorry," she managed in between giggles. "I just had the most graphic image of you tangoing. You're very uncoordinated in my imagination."

Will watched her laugh. He couldn't help but feel light. In the same way that Lizzy just had to steal those cookies he just had to steal those moments.

"So what _are_ you doing here Will?" she asked regaining her composure but maintaining a light edge that had been lacking at their dinner. He'd forgotten that laughter was the best way to forget.

He sighed. "I was being honest when I said I didn't know." He shrugged and shoved his hands back into the pockets of his khakis. "I had to get out of the office for a moment and then I just kept walking until I ended up here."

They walked slowly down the street, as if they were strolling through a park, or some peaceful environment, and not the hustle and bustle of the city. She had her neck craned to see him and all of his expressions. "Won't Melanie worry?"

He sighed again and as he exhaled with his breath escaped a quick, "Nope." When talking to a girl that could see right through him, it really was futile to lie.

"Trouble in paradise?" she asked, not quite able to stop herself.

Will rolled his eyes. "Things are fine. Not everything in the world has to be perfect. Melanie and I are very… coordinated together."

"Coordinated? Will, you and I both know you hate to dance," she replied evenly, although she could no longer bear to watch his expression.

"I didn't mean coordinated in that way," he replied quickly, while brushing glances in her direction.

"Neither did I."

They walked along together for a couple more moments in silence. Eventually, out of desperation, Will resorted to a generic question. "So how's your family Lizzy?"

"Oh." She looked back at him quickly. She hadn't been expecting that. Will hadn't been expecting the odd look that crossed her face. Was everything not okay? "It's good, I suppose. Bridge's getting married in October. Of course she's over the moon."

"Married? But she's so-"

"Young?" she asked staring straight ahead of her. "Yeah. I know. She really is happy though. His name is Jacob Jones. She's over mostly just excited about adopting the surname Bridget Jones."

"That's classic," he whispered as she chuckled. That was a very Bridget thing to accomplish.

Lizzy smiled. "Yeah, she'll be happy. Mom too. Took up tennis lessons with me when I came home for a summer, it was family bonding thing, next thing I know she's moving into an apartment at the beach with our instructor. My family fulfills all kinds of clichés."

Will watched her for a second looking quite shocked at her even expression. "Your mother is getting remarried?"

"Did I say remarried?" she replied, her face very calm and composed. She'd obviously had plenty of time to cope with this whole idea. "I meant shacking-up. Turns out I'm not the only commitment-a-phoebe in the family."

"You're not a commitment-a-phoebe."

"Oh really? Then why did I break up with Christian when he asked to me marry him?" she asked pulling a piece of gum from her purse and popping it into her mouth.

"Because he's an ass hole."

Lizzy turned to him, her eyes suddenly burning and her lips pinched. "You have no right Will-"

"What?" Will asked, quickly jumping to the defensive. "I have no right to call a guy, that really is an ass hole, an ass hole?"

Lizzy's face melted a little and the spurt of anger slid slowly out of her fingertips. "Ok," she replied slowly. "But only because he really is an ass hole. They're all ass holes. Apparently I have a thing for ass holes."

Will shrugged and tried to resist patting her on the arm. "We all do. Melanie's not the most bubbly person in the world either."

Lizzy smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've always found Melanie to be an absolute _sweetheart_," she replied her voice coated in an unnatural sweetness.

"Ok, ok." He held up his hands in front of him as if to protect himself physically from her insults. "I'm catching your impersonation of her. But," he shrugged again, "at least she's upfront about it. She doesn't try to be anything she's not. I always know what Melanie I'm going to get."

"Predictability is a four letter word," Lizzy muttered back.

"Only to you," Will replied, facing her dead-on.

Lizzy started walking again (she'd never even realized that they'd stopped) and tucked her hands into her jean pockets. The sun was going down and Lizzy found that in her little strappy top she was starting to get cold.

"So what are you doing for you 'Sea Witch' free time?" she asked slowly, a trace of a smile crossing her face.

Once more, Will shrugged. "Being unpredictable I guess."

* * *

_Don't blame Will for the way he talks about Melanie. It's all Lizzy's influence on him._

_Sorry about typos. I'm dyslexic. (Honestly! That took me three times to spell.)_

_I've recently (and by recently I mean like a year and a half ago... but our affair has been rekindled.) fallen in love with a character named Jack (not Wikham). If anyone has fallen out of love with reading and wants something lighthearted Jack will do the trick. So go read _Can you Keep a Secret_.Two of my favorite things: secrets and British people._

_Anyway. The next two are all Lizzy and Will (plus a few others, like possibly Anya and Corey) and you see Lizzy at her other job. (she has more than one) So who thinks they know what else Lizzy does to help her put food on the table? (which is really just a saying because she never goes grocery shopping and always just steals from Anya and Corey.) _

_Who also wants to know how Lizzy will react to... things I cant mention?_


	13. Chapter 12

**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 12_

"Lizzy. You almost ready?" Anya popped her head around the corner of the bathroom and smiled at Lizzy as she untangled another strand of hair from her curling iron.

"We can't leave yet," Lizzy muttered as she wrapped the next strand and coated it in hairspray.

Corey snorted from where she sat on the toilet seat.

"You. Shut up," Lizzy snapped as she watched her in the mirror.

"I didn't say a word," Corey replied clearly, with a twinkle in her eye.

Anya watched Lizzy as she wrapped her next strands of hair. She had a tight pair of jeans and her "lucky" brown stilettos. She wore a fitted brown leather button up that matched the hue of her shoes perfectly and had a small line where the light pink lace of her bra peeked out of the top and the rest of her chest went whichever way it chose. Her hair was in the process of being curled into perfectly cylindrical tendrils and her makeup was flawless. Lizzy, under normal circumstances, had fun dressing up and trying to look as she called it "not completely disgusting". Tonight the complete opposite had been achieved. Lizzy was immaculate and flawless.

"You look hot. Meeting someone?" Anya asked simply as she fixed the hairs that had fallen out of her black clip.

Corey snorted again and Lizzy scowled at her. "Just a friend," she replied to Anya although her burning gaze was still directed at Corey.

Anya watched the two of them meet eyes in the mirror. "Who is it?"

"I can't even bring myself to say it," Corey muttered as ripped apart a sheet of toilet paper and tried to hide a bitter smile.

"He should be here soon," Lizzy added completely ignoring Corey.

"I'm sensing some negative vibes here," Anya commented as she abandoned her makeup. Standing next to Lizzy when she looked like that made all attempts on Anya's part seem useless.

"When he breaks your heart again I think you should know you submitted yourself to this voluntarily and against the advice of those that care about you," Corey said clearly as she finally looked Lizzy in the eye with a glare as equally burning.

The use of the terms "heartbreak" and "Lizzy" in the same sentence left only one person in mind. Will.

"I'm not sixteen anymore. If I know what he _really_ is then I'll be that much safer. Plus when was the last time I got really attached to a guy? I've learned how to keep men and hearts separate by now," she replied but it was obvious how she subconsciously broke eye contact with Corey and concentrated on her curling iron.

"Secretly you still love him," Corey pressed softly.

"Secretly I don't think I ever loved him in the first place." She shook out her curls a little to loosen the hairspray and flashed her teeth to check for plaque. "I was young. I wouldn't have known love if it hit me over the head."

Corey didn't look convinced of Lizzy's detachment. "Lizzy-"

"Corey," Anya cut in. "She'll be fine. She's working. I'll be there if she needs me. And she'll promise not to drink and/or impair her judgment in any way."

Lizzy smiled at Anya. "Thank you-"

"Oh shut it Lizzy. I'm only saying this 'cause I love you and if you fall into a depressing heartbreak you're ten times less fun to hang out with," Anya added passionately as she cornered Lizzy by the door of their bathroom, "but if you do anything stupid I will call you on it. Just because opportunities present themselves to you, and with the way you look tonight I'd say you're hoping they will, doesn't mean you have to take them. Just remember: HE'S ENGAGED!"

Lizzy smiled slightly. "Engaged. Got it. Just say no."

"He's late too." Anya added as she checked her watch-less wrist. "If he's not here in five, we will leave him."

Corey snorted again and tried to hide her laughter. "Will. '_Will_ leave him'. It's a pun."

Anya looked back to Lizzy. "And stop giving Corey drugs when I'm not looking."

Lizzy laughed along with her and Corey's freakish giggles. "We really should go soon. Where is he?"

"You're the one that invited him," Corey said shrugging and leaving the bathroom as Lizzy went to check the peephole to see if he was there yet.

"Well it's not like I was planning on it." Lizzy plopped down, slightly exhausted, on the couch beside Anya and Corey. "I mean I just bumped into him on the street and we were talking and it was just… so relaxed. I forgot how much fun I used to have with him. Did you know I once convinced him to get a tattoo?"

"Will has a tat?" Anya replied. "Where?" It's common knowledge that seeing Will Darcy naked was one of Anya's major goals in life before he broke Lizzy's heart.

"I wouldn't tell you that even if you forced me," Lizzy replied with a secretive smile as she got up to check her peephole again.

"I bet Melanie Slaide knows," Corey muttered and Anya shot her a glare. Tonight was not the night to have to put up with Pessimistic Corey, the worst creature to ever roam the earth.

"He's here!" Lizzy shouted as she shoved her face against the door.

Anya silently noted her excitement. Before Lizzy's normal dates, she normally lingered in her room with the door closed while Anya and Corey tried to prod her out. Tonight, she was jumpy and slightly smiley. No matter who Will was, or wasn't, he'd already gotten into the heart of Lizzy and even if she was as detached as worn out Velcro she was going to get hurt when she had to let go of him again. And this wasn't even supposed to be a date…

"Good you're here," Lizzy growled as she swung open the door before Will had even reached it or knocked. "We're going to be late," she muttered as she too checked her watch-less wrist.

"I'm really sorry," he replied with a sheepish grin as his eyes alit on her and he took it all in. The transformation of his face didn't go unnoticed by Anya as his dimples creased into a deep smile. He wore slightly tight jeans that Anya could clearly see would accentuate his rear. He wore a button up, striped Ralph Lauren shirt and had rolled the sleeves to stop just before his elbows and show his tanned forearms. The way he grinned at Lizzy, and the few seconds longer than what is normal that his eyes stuck to her, suddenly had Anya as worried as Corey was. Talking about Will offering himself to Lizzy was one thing, but staring at the real Will, in all his gorgeousness and who looked at Lizzy like that, was like staring her best friend's imminent heartbreak in the face. Before her doom had been a hypothetical, now it seemed inevitable.

Suddenly Anya found herself not praying for her usual hope of a fun night out, but instead for her last shred of hope that, no matter what happened, Lizzy would be okay.

"It's okay," Lizzy replied as she pulled him into the apartment for a quick minute. "Will you remember Anya," she pointed across the room to where Anya had recently lit a candle, "and Corey," she pointed to Corey who scowled at him from where she was curled on the couch.

"Hey." Will awkwardly lifted his hand in a pathetically awkward wave.

"You're such an idiot," Lizzy said shaking her head. "You're like socially handicapped."

Will shrugged his shoulders in defense. "What? I was just saying hey. When did 'hey' become socially unacceptable?"

Anya quickly blew out her candle and shot Corey a worried expression who returned it right back and nodded solemnly, then muttered quick goodbyes and went back to her room. "Liz, we gotta go," Anya said quickly as she rushed to the door and pushed past Will.

"Right. Where are we going?" Will asked as he followed the girls out of their apartment.

Lizzy smiled as she closed the door behind him. "To work."

* * *

_Hey! Sorry this chapter took so freaking long. This girl at work quit and I've had to pick up all her fricking work and all her damn hours. Suckey!_

_Anyway! Anya! I so love Anya. Next chapter will be Will and Lizzy, alone mostly._

_Before the suggestion even comes up I'd like to squash it. Lizzy and Anya are not strippers. _

_Okay. Anyaway. I'm glad that's cleared up. Not much else to say but, reviews faster updates (even with my crazy work schedual for the week)_


	14. Chapter 13

_Finally! A new chapter!_**

* * *

**

**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 13_

Lizzy gripped the familiar glass bottle in her left hand and pulled another shot glass from under the counter. The three slightly drunk men in front of her watched the bottle closely as she spun it between her thumb and index fingers, then were appropriately awed when they finally noticed their glasses that had been filled "as if by magic."

She grabbed the most sober of the three's twenty and flashed a sultry smile. "Are you ready to clear you tab?" she asked smiling and using her quick hands to discreetly shove the bill into her back pocket.

"Keep 'em coming," one of the three slurred as he waved his hand in a slightly circular motion and downed his shot without even a wince.

"Same stuff?" she asked as she reached for her bottle again.

"'Naw. Surprise us," one of them requested.

Lizzy smiled. This was where it got fun. She reached above the counter, to where they kept the really lethal stuff, and the three men drooled over the strip of skin that revealed itself as she stretched out. She pulled down the bottle and all three of the glasses and performed a new juggling routine, then poured.

After the three men took their shots they whooped, hollered and slapped hands to make their pain seem manly, Anya sidled over to Lizzy with the weary expression she always wore by the end of the night. Tonight had been tougher than usual. She'd been distracted by Lizzy the entire night, had messed up two separate routines and spilt an entire beer on her $150 jeans, and got stiffed on three tabs. She'd have to pick up another shift to pay the difference. Or get married within the next month.

"You almost done with these guys?" she asked, in a voice that only Lizzy could hear, as she bent down to pretend she was organizing the glasses beneath the counter.

Lizzy smiled down at her mischievously. "I just gave them The Blend."

Anya smiled back and seemed thoroughly excited. The Blend was the created by all the girls that worked at the bar and was a combination of Red Bull and all of their most potent alcohol. It tasted like crap, but that didn't matter because it'd burn a hole in your tongue before you even got it down. It was only to be used at closing time or dire situations, the former in this case, in hopes that the more intoxicated the customers got the sooner they'd leave.

"Lizzy," Vivian, their fellow bartender, sighed as she leaned against the counter and batted her eyelashes at the groaning men as they grabbed their coats and left Lizzy a hundred. "Hot Guy wants to know if you're almost done. I said that if you weren't I'd be glad to walk him home."

Anya scowled at her and Lizzy smiled. "Thanks Vee. But I think I'm done. I can walk him home all by myself."

Anya quickly turned her scowl on Lizzy. "Are you sure about that?"

Lizzy ignored her as she grabbed her light jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders then buttoned it up. "What would I have to do to make you stop asking me that?"

As Lizzy jumped over the counter, and walked to the corner where she knew "Hot Guy" had been hiding, all night she could hear Anya in the background saying, "Why do you talk about him like that? You know he's engaged."

"He needs to sow his wild oats!" she could hear Vee reply before she finally was close enough to Will to hear his conversation with the bouncer that she'd instructed to make sure he didn't leave. "So have you ever punched a guy so hard that he had to go to the hospital?" she heard him ask.

Marcus, the bouncer, who despite weighing a solid 260lbs and still being one of the nicest guys Lizzy's met, grunted and cracked his knuckles. "It really doesn't take that much to knock some people out."

Will scoffed. "Says you."

"No," Marcus grunted again in his deep voice. "Some people drop like flies. Here I'll show you," he added towering above Will and bearing his knuckles.

"What are you two doing?" Lizzy asked as she stood beside Marcus and stared at his balled fist. "Please don't punch Will."

"Lizzy didn't you know? For tonight I only respond to 'Hot Guy,'" Will chipped in, his face lighting up in her presence, as he stood and downed the last of his beer. "Ready?"

"I suppose," she said shrugging and saying goodbye to Marcus.

"No, no! Do not address me so," Will replied, feigning distress. "I shall only be referred to as 'Hot Guy,' 'His Royal Hotness,' or 'Hottie McHot-Hot.'"

Lizzy punched him on the arm as he held the door to the bar open. "You're such an egomaniac. Plus you forgot 'Mr. Hot.'"

Will turned his hands up and gave a fake sad smile. "How could I forget the most important one?"

Lizzy just rolled her eyes.

"So… that was cool," he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and Lizzy noticed the little goose bumps on the part of his forearms at remained bare.

"Really? Most guys are miserable when I make them sit through that."

He smiled at her. "No. You're pretty amazing at that whole bartending thing."

"Thanks!" she smiled back and hailed a cab that just whizzed right by them. "I'm the three year winner of Miss. Bar Star."

"Bar Star?" He hailed a cab and it immediately pulled over. "That's like Miss. America, but _better_!"

She punched him again. "Don't mock me," she said smiling and punching him once more for good measure.

He winced and grabbed his shoulder. "Must you be good at everything you do?"

She cocked her head to the side and climbed in the cab as he held open the door for her. "Like what?" she asked as he told the cabbie of their next location.

"Like punching," he replied smiling at her so this time she knocked her elbow lightly into his abdomen. "And bartending. And radio hosting-"

"I'm not a good host." She replied as she watched his face fill with a reply. "I just host a crappy one-hour segment that I had to beg for after college."

"No, you host one of the most popular radio shows in all of L.A."

"It's the time slot. People sitting in their cars during rush hour and they just want to hear someone talk about how crap the world is because that's how they feel at that moment," she replied nodding her head and gesturing along with her point. She'd never realized that she does this while she's speaking, but Will loved the way she gestured despite his minor fear that she might accidentally poke him in the eye.

Will shook his head. "It's not the time slot. It's you. Your show is pretty amazing. _You're _pretty amazing," he added slowly as he tacked that final thought on without thinking.

She smiled. "I am pretty amazing, aren't I?"

Will grunted a small laugh in reply.

"If I were really as good as you say I am," she said her smile slipping and her voice suddenly serious and self conscience, "then I'd have a real show. Most slots for real hosts are about four hours. Mines one, and I'm basically limited to pop culture and current events. I want a real show where I can talk about whatever the hell I want and have high enough wages that I don't need to bartend anymore."

Will shrugged. "And you haven't been offered one?"

Lizzy's shoulders slumped and she looked up at him with big eyes. "I have. But the thing is, to get a really big show I'd have to go national and most of the ones I've been offered are based out of different cities. I would never move, but if I got an offer from New York. Maybe then I'd have to really make a decision."

"Decisions have never been your forte," Will pointed out and she scowled.

"Nor yours," she replied. "If you hadn't had a life plan that came with birth, who knows where you would have ended up."

"Hey!" Will waggled a finger at her. "I love my life."

"All of it?"

"Yes," he replied suddenly serious as she watched him with a blank expression. He couldn't help that his "yes" came out sounding more like a question.

"Now I know you're lying, because no one loves their _entire_ life. If they did there'd be nothing to hope for. Nothing to live for," she replied matching his serious expression.

"I have hopes."

She cast her eyes up from where they'd been observing the carpet. "What does 'Mr. Hot' hope for?"

Will paused for a second and hesitated before her responded. "Do you remember when we first separated for college and we would send each other those stupid little tapes?"

She nodded slowly. She couldn't have forgotten.

He hesitated again as he watched her, weighing his options and his risks. "Why did you stop sending them?"

She practically choked. "You know why."

He shook his head. "No. You stopped way before that ever happened. Why did you cut me off?"

She starred him flat in the eye, with her eyes welling with repressed bad memories, and for once he though she might not be too proud to let him see her hurt. She didn't realize, that her pain was written all over her face. "You were the last to receive a tape. I sent you one and you never replied and there I was feeling like an idiot so I called one day and who answers the phone? A girl. A girl I never knew about."

Will cast his eyes away, this was the brutal part, as he shrunk into his side of the cab.

Lizzy continued trying not to notice. "But I tried not be jealous. I'd recently lost the only man I'd ever allow into my life and I wasn't going to let the second one go on a simple misunderstanding, so I called Eddie. Eddie can't lie." She shrugged as if it no longer mattered even though they both knew it did. "And Eddie didn't lie," she finished resolutely.

The cab suddenly stopped outside of her apartment building and she blinked at him a few times, crushed against his door, as far as he could get from her, then she climbed out of her side of the cab. By the time she'd rounded the car to reach the sidewalk side he was standing there with his door still open and a slightly confused look on his face as if he didn't know what had made him get out of that cab.

She paused and looked at him, her face asking him one last question. His body overthrew all of his sense of logic and, when brain function returned to him, he was pulling out of a deep kiss with his arms squeezing both of her hips. "I think maybe I should…" He didn't know the rest of his statement. If she'd asked him to stay with her, he would have.

But she didn't. "Go. I think maybe you should go," she completed for him as she took one step back away from his grasp then ran the rest of the way into her building.

Eventually he climbed back into the cab and eventually he came to grips with what he'd just done.

* * *

_I'm sorry this took longer than usual, but it was a big one and I've been procrastinating. Anyway, this changes everything. You should be excited because I've been waiting forever for them to kiss. Although thats not the end. Halfway maybe._

_Anywho. My awesome reviews were really slacking on that last chap. GAH! That will NOT do. Motivation is much harder without you... and I'm quite a procrastinator._

_Ok us working girls hear the bell tolling._

_R-E-V-I-E-W. There I spelled it out for you._


	15. Chapter 14

_Lizzy the pessimist is back and better than ever. Be ready to be cynical.

* * *

_

**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 14_

Lizzy heard the door to her apartment close behind her and fell back against it. She didn't know what to feel, so she chose to feel cold, and wrapped her light jacket tighter around her body. She didn't move, she didn't make a noise and she tried with all her might not to think.

"Anya?" she heard Corey yell from the corner of their apartment where her room was.

Lizzy didn't say a word. She was too numb.

"Ahn? Is that you?" Corey's voice was getting closer and it was only a matter of seconds before she rounded the corner, clad in boxer shorts and a tank top, and discovered a frozen Lizzy. "Lizzy? I didn't expect you back yet."

Lizzy didn't move. Her face merely paled. Corey waddled over to her, her bare heels thumping against their wooden floors. "What's the matter babe?" she asked simply as she wrapped her arm over Lizzy's shoulder and led her to the couch. "Why are you so cold?"

Lizzy continued to hold the edges of her jacket around her. "Is it not cold in here?" she asked as she looked up at her. In the depths of her mind she knew it was September and that her apartment was a balmy 81 degrees and yet she felt so frigid that her breath should have been visible.

"No Hon," Corey said calmly. She may have warned her, she may have seen it coming but Corey still ached to find herself to be correct. "It's pretty hot in here."

Lizzy shivered. "Then why am I so cold?"

Corey rubbed her arms in the way a person rubs their hands together to warm them up. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Lizzy looked at her and Corey lay a blanket over her lap. "He kissed me."

Corey paused mid-wrap and looked at her. "Is that all?"

Lizzy nodded once.

"So he didn't even say anything?" she asked sinking into the sofa.

Lizzy shook her head slowly. "Only that his cheating was my fault."

Corey scowled for a second then shot her a stern look. "Don't you _ever_ think that was your fault."

"He didn't even care. He pretended like he didn't even know about what happened with Dad and he just brushed it aside," she looked back at Corey, her face still frozen. "Then he kissed me and- and I just ran." She suddenly felt her first emotion: panic. "Oh god Corey, he's ENGAGED! I let him kiss me, and he's _engaged_."

Corey nodded. "That wasn't your fault either. Will's a complete ass."

"Why?" She was now molding into her second emotion, anger. "Why was I not good enough for him then, but now that he can't have me he wants me again?" she spat with a burning passion.

"He probably has no fucking clue what he wants."

"No!" she yelled standing from the sofa and throwing her blanket off her. "No, _Melanie_ he wants. _Me_ he just wants to torture."

Corey stared at her with wide eyes.

"You know he's the only guy I ever wanted to spend time with. The only one I would have regretted if I'd lost and you know what? He's the only one that didn't want me back!" Her face was turning purple now. Emotion number three, grief, was taking over and she was soon to be sobbing into a pillow if she kept that up. "He made me think I loved him. He did it and then he left! Just tossed me aside for a new girl." That's when the waterworks started. "Why does he only want me when he can't have me?"

Corey stood up and once again wrapped her arm over Lizzy's shoulders. "They're all in it for the chase."

Lizzy pulled away from her touch. "You're right," she growled as she wiped her eyes. "They're all pigs. And love- love was just an allusion they created to bend us impressionable women to their whims. To enslave. It doesn't_ really_ exist."

Corey walked over and picked up the blanket and starting folding it as Lizzy stormed into the kitchen, clattering through every drawer and cabinet in search of something. As Corey laid the blanket back onto the arm of the sofa Lizzy stomped back into the room and shoved a spoon at Corey then dug into her carton of ice cream.

"It's all bullshit you know. Men. Relationships," she spoke with her spoon in her left hand, her ice cream in her right, and a funny accent from the ice cream stuck to the roof of her mouth. "Just some fucking distractions so we don't have to think about how incredibly insignificant our lives are."

Only Lizzy could make it through the entire array of emotions that accompany a broken heart in a matter of minutes and settle into bitter. Record timing.

"So I've finally come to the decision. Love does not exist." She swallowed her spoonful and spoke in a normal voice again. "It didn't exist in Christian the coke-addict. Nor One-Night-Stand Charlie. Nor 'I'm Gonna Be A Doctor' Allen. And definitely not Will 'Fucking-Break-My-Heart-Then-Come-Back-To-Stomp-On-It' Darcy." She took another spoonful and her funny accent returned. "It doesn't fucking happen does it? I was right all along- Do we have any Girl Scout Cookies?- There is no knight in shining armor. Prince Charming? Doesn't exist!"

"Lizzy. Slow down," Corey replied calmly as she squeezed the ice cream carton out of her hands and set it on their coffee table. "There's love. Just because Will wasn't it, doesn't mean-"

"No it means a lot!" She threw her arms in the air and fell back into her seat on the sofa. "It means I was a fucking idiot. It means that men are our only weaknesses and most of all it means there're no happy endings."

Corey shot her a doubtful look. "What is Shakespeare writing about? What is Van Morrison singing about? What are the Trojans fighting for, if love doesn't exist?"

Lizzy looked back up at her with her eyes burning. "Obviously something I can never have."

Corey handed her back her carton and Lizzy immediately dug her spoon right back into it.

"God!" she swallowed a particularly big spoonful. "I'm such an idiot. I mean I honestly let myself get expectations about him."

"Everyone has expectations Lizzy," Corey replied as she sat beside her with her legs tucked under herself.

Lizzy pulled off her jacket and fanned herself. She wasn't numb anymore but she was still impervious. "No I don't. Promises you can build on. Expectations can be ignored. Promises can't." She threw her jacket across the room, just as she'd done with the blanket. "I should have reminded myself that Will's already made his promises, and he made them to someone else."

"What exactly happened?" Corey asked quickly before Lizzy could go off on another tirade.

"I don't even know. One minute he's telling me how perfect his life is, then something stupid about a video, then the next thing I know he's kissing me."

"Like a real kiss?"

Lizzy shrugged. "I don't know. It seemed passionate enough."

"Did it seem like there was trouble in paradise?"

Lizzy shook her head. "He's always talking about how perfect they are. Which she always seems to do too so I suppose that really does make them perfect for each other, that ass hole, fucking, man-like-"

"Lizzy. Breathe." Corey yelled suddenly interrupting her before she could start again. "I know you're confused and all, but were there any hints from him about leaving her. For all you know he could just be waiting for you."

"I don't want him to wait for me." She yelled back, quickly becoming frustrated. "I just want him to go away."

"You're being an extremist," Corey warned.

"No." Lizzy stood from the couch and glared again. "I'm just telling it like it is."

* * *

_Yeah she's a bit upset. I though this chapter was much more Lizzy than what came before. I like to think that the whole being around Will thing had thrown her a bit off balance and now she's back to her full Lizzy-ness. _

_Anyway. Did you like it?_

_Im on break next week so Im hoping that I can possibly get this story all the way written and then just post it. There are only 12 chapters left and an epilogue. So... cross your fingers. _

_I really want to get some work done for my Emma story but I'd like to get this one finished and I have to get a new laptop (once I can manage to keep a paycheck for more than 3 days before spending it on clothes... really cute clothes but still.) Once I get that, this will be mucho easier._

_Reviews are equivalent to love. Love is equivalent to updates. _


	16. Chapter 15

**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 15_

Melanie Slaide could not believe her eyes. She tried to blink, thinking she had just imagined the whole thing, but when she opened them again she still couldn't believe that he was standing there in the lobby.

"Will?" she called out, her voice echoing off the cold marble floors. "What are you doing here?"

Will turned from the receptionist and blushed at her. "Mel."

She rushed across the room and wrapped him in a hug, trying to ignore the stiffness of his posture. "This is probably the sweetest thing you've ever done," she gasped as she let him go and looked into his eyes.

He just shrugged and looked down. "Just wanted to see you."

"I know, but it's still sweet. Not every guy flies across America to come see his lonely fiancé."

Will picked up his small overnight duffle from where he'd set it by his feet. Melanie couldn't stop smiling. Any type of insecurities she had with her relationship with Will suddenly flew out the window and she grabbed his free hand, starting to lead him away from the desk.

"Sir, does this mean you won't be needing a room?" the man behind the counter asked eyeing Melanie suspiciously. He'd observed her actions from the week she'd been staying and he was a bit confused by her sudden change of demeanor.

"Of course he won't _be needing_ a room," Melanie laughed. "He's with me," she added as the man shot her a beady look. "He's my _fiancé_."

The man shot her another look. "Right," he said somewhat obnoxiously drawing out the syllables to make it sound condescending, but before Melanie could become indignant he spoke again. "Would he like another key to your room then?"

"It's fine, we'll get it later," Melanie grumbled catching the man's criticizing look and practically dragging Will toward the elevator.

She was slightly worried by Will's confused look and the way he seemed to be in his own little world, but she figured once she got him back to her room she could… force it out of him. Melanie was no idiot, she knew where her true power over men lay and it definitely wasn't an action that could take place right in the middle of the lobby of The Four Seasons.

"Did I tell you how excited I am that you're here?" she asked huskily as she unlocked her door and practically pushed him into her room.

Will nodded and dropped his bag on the floor as she attacked him, their lips pressing against each other's and he pinned her up against the door as she swung it close behind her and pulled his right arm under the knee of her left leg to almost lift her off the ground. She tugged on his hair, mussing it in every which direction, then quickly abandoned her pursuit to try to pull off his blue sweatshirt while still keeping his lips on hers. Unfortunately for Melanie's little plan, the moment they broke to rip off his sweater he pulled back and dropped her back onto her feet.

"This isn't what I came here for," he muttered as he stepped back and put his hands through his hair to smooth it back down.

"Then why did you come?" she asked, steadying herself against the door and fixing the straps on her dress that had shifted across her body.

"To see you, I guess," he replied quickly giving up with his hair and allowing his shoulders to drop in either relief or defeat.

"You guess?" she eyed him. "Why would you need to guess? What else would you have come here for?"

He shrugged and his eyes danced with panic. "To talk, I suppose."

"Will!" she commanded sharply. "Forget the 'maybe's and 'suppose's! What the fuck is wrong?"

He shrugged again. Did he even know? He watched her, standing there with her hands on her hips and her eyes glowing. She was slightly frazzled from their earlier confrontation and she just kind of stared at him, not yielding even an inch. In a weird way it reminded him of a girl he used to know. She had been a passionate and wild creature, the one that lit him up and reached for the stars. But thinking about her didn't clarify a thing because now she was broken. She had no passion, just a shell and a million layers that would take him the rest of his life to dig back through. She wasn't that passionate blonde girl that turned into a popsicle every winter or refused to let him kiss her in public; she was an armored car.

But Melanie wasn't. There she stood willing and able and prepared to make a lifetime commitment to him. She would never yield. Maybe his brain didn't go into a tizzy every time he was around her. Maybe his heart didn't do gymnastics in his chest at her touch. Maybe she didn't light his fire and push him into the spontaneous, fun Will that he secretly wished he was, but she was in love with him and life with Melanie could be just as much as an adventure as life with Lizzy could have been.

He hadn't flown to New York to brake up with Melanie. He hadn't come to confess that he still had feelings for Lizzy. Hell, he hadn't even known why he came at all, until that moment. He'd come to see, even if she wasn't the one, if he could spend the rest of his life with her. She didn't have to be passion, she just had to be contentment.

"I came to ask you if we could just… get this whole wedding thing over with." He eyed her as her eyes popped and her jaw slacked. "I know it's not what we planned Mel, but maybe we should just be spontaneous and- and I want to spend the rest of my life with you-"

"Stop!" She held up her hand again and looked down at the slightly dirty carpet. "Are you asking me to elope with you?"

He nodded but she didn't look up at him for another moment. When she did her jaw was set and her eyes glared. "No," she declared solidly. "We're responsible adults that have to understand that we made commitments that we must stick to."

"But we could just-"

"No Will," she grunted angrily, while practically snarling. "I made commitments to my friends, _our parents_, our clients. I refuse to just throw that all out the window."

Will's brow creased and he watched her face. He'd never seen her quite so pale. Why was she fighting this so much? He wanted, more than anything to ask her if she even wanted to marry him, but he only managed to shrug. "Ok. I guess if that's what you want then," he replied monotonously. He was drained of all fight.

"Okay. I'm glad that's settled." She plastered her sickly smile back onto her face. "Now would you like to take me shopping around the city?"

He shrugged. He was suddenly beginning to realize it wasn't about what he wanted at all.

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_Hi! Missed me? I tried getting this update up Saturday and Sunday but the thing wouldn't let me update. Grr._

_The next chapter brings alot more questionmarks into the equation and I'm almost done writing it so expect it... by Friday? I don't know._

_I'm sorry I've been so behind. But the good news is I think Im quitting my job this week! Yay!_

_Ok Hope you had fuuun._


	17. Chapter 16

**Warning: **This chaptter has a bit more swearing than usual. Just to let you know.**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 16_

It didn't take Lizzy long to remember why she hated this office. She hated the sticky leather chairs that were impossible to get comfortable in. She hated the stupid receptionist that looked down on her just because she wasn't wearing Prada. She hated all the pictures of Melanie Slaide, with every famous person the girl had ever met, that were plastered everywhere. But most of all, she hated that while she was waiting to get into Melanie Slaide's office _he_ walked out of _her_ office with a smug grin.

"Christian?" she called from her seat as he walked, or really more like swaggered, past her.

The skinny man whirled around and looked at her, his grin not flickering for a moment. "Lizzy. What's up?" he said smoothly.

She shot him a questioning look that was wasted on someone of his drug status. "What are you doing here?" she asked standing up to make her presence seem more intimidating. "Please say you're not writing a book. You can't even spell your name."

He grinned again and quirked his head to the side, coincidentally in the direction of Melanie's office. "You know how it is."

Lizzy frowned, her eyebrows speaking volumes. "No, I don't think I do. Please enlighten me."

He just smiled slimily and lifted his eyebrows in unison. Then lifted them again.

"Are you implying you're fucking Melanie Slaide?" she asked, a bitterness causing her to almost spit.

He licked his lips and lifted his eyebrows again. "I didn't say a thing," he said smoothly as he winked at Melanie's receptionist and turned to go.

It was lucky for Christian that Lizzy's rapidly forming homicide plans were smashed when Melanie popped her head around the door to her office and smiled rigidly. "Lizzy! I'm so glad you're here!"

As Lizzy's attention was diverted, Christian slipped into the elevator with one last grin.

"Come into my office," Melanie said smiling and gesturing inside of the magnanimous room. "It was an unexpected surprise when you called me. Is everything going to plan?"

Lizzy wandered into the room, not knowing what emotion would be suitable for such a situation, but still trying as hard as she could to remain passive. But, her anger got the best of her. "No it's not going to plan!" she spat.

Melanie's face dropped and her disgusting smile melted. For a moment Lizzy thought she actually detected panic behind her eyes, but she was quickly diverted by the sight of Melanie's slightly smeared lipstick. Melanie Slaide was, if nothing else, supposed to be impeccable. She was to have the perfect job, the perfect fiancé, the perfect clothes, and, above all, the perfect makeup. So why on earth was little Miss Perfect smeared at the edges of her Berry Red lipstick?

"Lizzy, please have a seat." Melanie tried warily to calm the brightening spark of anger that crossed Lizzy's face.

"No," Lizzy shot back sternly. "I won't do anything."

Melanie pierced her lips. She'd only ever met broken Lizzy. She had no idea what she was getting into.

"Are you sleeping around on Will?" Lizzy asked, her eyebrows concentrated, her arms crossed, her eyes focused. She put everything she had into the glare she shot Melanie. She'd hated her from the beginning and no longer had any reason to pretend she didn't.

That's when Melanie snapped. "Listen you little, used-clothes, non-waxing slut. I know Will must have been crazy to date you in the first place, but you should know there is no way in hell he would ever leave_ me_ for _you_."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Lizzy asked calmly, but her face still stabbed with undeniable anger.

"I'm talking about you trying to steal my boyfriend!" Melanie practically yelled, her voice going up three notches.

"Excuse me, but I am not trying to take Will from you. I couldn't give a damn about Will. I came here to break my book deal so I could get away from Will… and you." Lizzy glared harder, but her face concealed a flicker of a smile. In an evil way she loved watching Melanie's composure jump out of the window and commit suicide. "And by the way he's your_ fiancé_, not your boyfriend."

"It doesn't matter what he is, as long as _you_ know _he's mine_. Not yours!" It was as if a beast had been released. As Melanie's anger finally escaped, her entire appearance seemed to melt with it. Her dark shiny hair pulled loose from its trendy twist and her smearing makeup framed her face in a mask, as if the cover-up had finally been ripped off and this monster lay inside.

"You sound a bit insecure about that. Are you _completely_ sure?" Lizzy was loving this far too much. She'd been a shell for far too long and finally destroying the woman she hated with all her being brought out the devil within her that she'd hidden for all too long. It was safe to say she was enjoying every minute of it and her face creased from an angry glare to repressed laughter and mocking.

Melanie pulled on her hair in frustration causing it to stick out at all angles. It no longer resembled the primped locks of a fashionista, but the unruly mass of a lion's mane. "You fucking little slut bag."

Lizzy couldn't help but smile this time. "I'm not so sure what a "slut bag" is, Mel. Could you refresh my memory?" Melanie glared, and Lizzy's smile grew. "It can't be that hard, I'm sure you have a mirror we can use to illustrate your point. No? How about a picture of yourself? You're such an egomaniac you're bound to have at least a dozen."

Melanie was struck silent. She hadn't expected Lizzy to reply with wit. Insults she could have handled, but she did not like people laughing at her. "Get the fuck out of my office," she declared with monotonous anger.

"Oh so does this mean the book deal's off?" Lizzy smiled as she grabbed her purse that she'd dropped on one of the many chairs in the office. "That is _so_ heartbreaking." Her voice dripped with a girlish, mocking sarcasm that Melanie couldn't even ignore.

As Lizzy reached the door she heard Melanie call out to her. "It must suck to know that your ex prefers the company of another woman. Or shall I say _two_ of your exes."

Lizzy stopped for a second, but refused to turn around and show Melanie that her comment was not lost on her. She'd picked it up and finally knew the truth about Will's relationship was confirmed. She'd noticed something off about them, but now it all fell into place. Will's relief about Melanie's trip. Will kissing her outside her apartment. Christian's cocky grin after him and Melanie had disappeared at the restaurant.

Obviously things were even worse beneath the surface.

As she passed the confused secretary and entered the elevator she didn't know what she'd say once she got there, but she suddenly knew exactly where she needed to go.

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_I know what you're going to say. I know what you're going to say, but say it anyway._

_The next chapter is the one that this whole story was dreamed around. I loooove it. You only get to read it if I get reviews!_

_So c'mon. Show some love._


	18. Chapter 17

This was the chapter that started it all. But not the end.**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 17_

He was trying to relax. Will just wanted for every stupid little thought that was flitting through his brain to magically disappear, especially ones of her. But Will didn't believe in magic. He believed in irony; which is why he really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was when he heard someone pounding on the door.

Lizzy once told him a theory she had called "The Jack Theory". She said that every time you don't want to see someone, think about someone, or avoid feelings for someone, that person will constantly show up, or be on your mind. It was the theory that epitomized their relationship in high school. Lizzy had hated him; he always got stuck around her. He'd thought she was beneath him; he couldn't stop thinking about her. Eventually, they stopped hating running into each other and starting doing it on purpose.

He couldn't avoid her then, so it should have come as no surprise that he couldn't avoid her now. "Lizzy? What are you doing here?" he asked immediately as he swung open the door.

"Great to see you too?" she asked smirking and raising her eyebrow with attitude. "Oh I'd be happy to come in," she smiled and pushed past him into the apartment. She turned around in his modernist living room and scowled. "If this is the 'living room' why does it seem as though no one lives here?"

Will finally recovered from his shock and pushed the door closed. "How did you know I lived here?"

She stopped examining his cold leather sofa and stared at him. "Georgie," she said with a shrug.

Will looked at her, she was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans and nothing seemed ostentatiously different about her yet she seemed so… different. "Oh. Is something… wrong?"

She smiled cockily and sat on the sofa. You could immediately tell she found it uncomfortable. It was the simple disconcerted expression that crossed her face that made it so obvious to Will what had changed. Lizzy was wearing her emotions on her sleeve. Her smile glinted with mischief, her shoulders with tension, and her eyes with secrets.

"What aren't you telling me?" he asked, sitting beside her on the couch and studying her with a puzzled expression.

Lizzy suddenly turned serious and shot him a look. He knew what was coming; no bull-shit, blunt Lizzy was about to rear her head. "Why did you kiss me?" Will feared this Lizzy. She was the one that caught his eye. "Was it because you were upset about something else or did you really just miss me?"

Will was silent, unable to even look in her general direction. "I don't know, Lizzy," he replied eventually.

"Do you still love me?" she asked trying to look at him, but he made sure to stare straight ahead. "Did you ever love me?"

"Yes," he shot back solidly and quickly then made the mistake of turning to face her.

"You still think what we had was real?"

"Yes. You don't think it was?"

She shrugged. "I try not to think about it at all," she said shrugging and trying to remain solid. She never understood that when she was upset her emotions were all over her eyes. "It hurts too much."

He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to grab the sides of her face and remind her that he would never intentionally hurt her, but doing that would only make it worse. The thoughts of Melanie were obvious within the confines of the apartment.

"Lizzy," he sighed, rubbing his hand across her back. Big mistake. The physical contact was the catalyst. Before he knew it, and without realizing who initiated the contact, they were kissing. Her lips pressed against his with searing passion and he almost felt the shock of electricity. How had he lived the last seven years without her touch? He needed more. He squeezed closer to her on the couch and pulled at the tips of her t-shirt. The skin on his hands seared as it brushed her bare stomach and before he knew it he'd yanked her shirt off. Unlike with Melanie, they both fumbled quickly back into the other's kiss, not even trying to regain their breath for a second. Lizzy brought both her feet around his, first kicking off his left shoe, then his right. She tugged the buttons of his shirt quickly through each hole until it was opened and she yanked it over his shoulders. She wanted to stop, but the expanse of their waists were touching and the heat of their skin only pushed them closer, if possible, together. Will slid his hands gently across her rib cage and around the lining of her bra to the hooks on the back. As his fingers slid across her skin she leaned into him, her lips near his ear, her breath caressing his cheek.

"I'm engaged," he breathed, his breath tingling against her ear.

She immediately stopped and pulled away, her body stiffening immediately. "So you want to…"

"To stop," he managed at last trying to regain his composure. For a split second he didn't remember why he'd said that. He wanted to take it back and pull her back against him, put his hands back where they were.

Lizzy's eyes grew wide. She wanted him too. "I know. If you were the kind of man that would go through with this, you wouldn't be the kind of man I'd want. But there's something you should know."

Will slumped. He'd seen this coming. "Look, I know what happened in college really hurt you and that's why I could never do this. I could never let you walk away thinking I hadn't learned from my mistakes."

"I know," she smiled sadly. "But now you're making another one."

He watched her as she stood up and crossed the bland room to pick up her shirt that he'd tossed about, and slid it over her head. She then turned to him, doubt filling ever inch of her face. "She's cheating on you," she eventually blurted out after opening her mouth several times to say something.

Will leaned back against the sofa. He looked as though the wind had been knocked out of him.

"I walked into her office today and there was Christian and her lipstick was everywhere. It was disgusting, so I asked her and she practically told me that she was screwing him," she rushed out quickly and Will's face stiffened.

He no longer looked flustered or miffed, he looked thoroughly pissed off. "My fiancé _practically_ told you she was cheating on me?" His voice was eerily steady. It was demanding and booming and for a second Lizzy was scared of him. Will wasn't a boy anymore; he was a man.

Lizzy nodded. "You can't go back to her Will! You can't go back to her. She's a cheating cow!"

"What is this? Some sort of competition?" he asked his jaw clenched, his eyes grounding into her. How could he go from not getting enough of her, to pushing her away?

"No! It's just… you and me." It was a feeble protest, but Lizzy didn't know what she wanted from telling Will about Melanie; perhaps something along the lines of, "Melanie? Who's Melanie?"

"No it's not. You ended it Lizzy."

"Because you _cheated_ on me!"

"So is this some sort of revenge?" he practically spat.

"Will!"

"Lizzy!" he boomed. "I think," he continued, slightly softer, "maybe you should go."

Lizzy couldn't help but be hurt, and for a moment he wanted her to stay. To make sure he never saw her hurt again. But then his own hurt overran his compassion.

"I can't believe you'd do this. I can't believe you'd do this _twice_," she replied, anger gripping her and eating her pain as if it were chocolate.

"I'm not doing anything."

Lizzy shook her head and glared. She couldn't take it anymore. Seeing him made her want to scratch him or slap him. She quickly crossed the room to the door. "You are. You're choosing another woman. You're choosing another woman, for the last time."

She closed the door. By the time she made it home, she was no longer angry. She was disappointed. But that didn't matter. What matter was that Will had never been this angry at Lizzy before, and yet, her eyes had sparked. He couldn't get the thought of Lizzy's anger scorching through her.

Lizzy was back.

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_How stubborn do you have to be? You'll get a little more info on Lizzy's past with Will next chapter and then a little more info on Will's relationship with Melanie. _

_Isn't Will such a bastard for not believing Lizzy? Who here thinks he'll regret that?_

_Hey you get off of my cloud... and review. (This is my cloud. I don't like to share.)_


	19. Chapter 18

_Hey there friends!!! 212! Lets keep those reviews rolling you awesome people! _**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 18_

Lizzy couldn't move. She thought if she tried to get up she'd break into a million pieces and never be put back together again.

"Get up."

She groaned as the lights were flicked on over her head. She just wanted the darkness back so she pulled her blanket back over her head.

"You're wasting your life. Get up."

"You have to be more forceful Core," another voice muttered and a moment later Lizzy's blankets were ripped off her bed and she was forced to curl into a ball as the cold air swept over her.

"Please just let me stay here," she pleaded quietly. It didn't matter though, for, just a moment later, she felt her bed shake and opened her eyes to see Corey lying beside her then Anya joined them as well.

"What are you doing Lizzy?" Corey asked her face serious and creased with worry. Lizzy, although she'd never admit it, could be prone to breaking.

"She's wallowing. Obviously." Anya gritted her teeth.

Lizzy shook her head and buried it into her pillow. "I'm not wallowing."

"Then why have you been in this bed for the last 16 hours?" Anya asked bluntly.

Corey spoke much gentler, "It's okay to be upset it you want."

"Go away," she muttered through her pillow.

"Oh real nice, just push us away. I'm sure that will solve _all_ your problems."

Lizzy shot up at Anya's sarcastic tone. "Listen!" she shot angrily and fast. "The only man I've ever loved just told me he'd prefer to marry the biggest bitch in the world and I'm going to need a couple of hours to remember why I even bother living; which would be much easier if I didn't have you two witnessing me at my lowest point."

"It's just an envelope." Corey held out a flowery envelope with fashionable handwriting and sleek edges. "Remember that. It's just paper it doesn't mean that it's actually going to happen."

Lizzy ripped the envelope from Corey's hand and quickly ripped off the outside of it. "It's not just an envelope. It's an invitation to their wedding! It's an invitation to witness their joke of a marriage. It's an invitation to witness a lifetime of two people kidding themselves."

"Wouldn't want to miss that now would you?" Anya replied smiling evilly and holding out a pen. "So what's it going to be? Stake or chicken?"

"Anya! This is someone's life. Not some sort of cruel play!" Corey lectured, but Lizzy just grabbed the pen and marked for chicken.

"There. It's done. I'll go. I'll let him go. I'll move on, but for now can I just go back to sleep?"

"You have every right to be upset," Corey sighed.

"I'm not upset. Fuck Will! I knew this would happen all along. Remember? You even warned me and I _did_ listen. I just don't know why I let myself be sucked into him again, but maybe I actually believed he could still be the only guy that would take me to the beach in the winter. Or share his jacket with me when I'm cold. Maybe I still thought he was the only guy that could make me confess all those stupid feelings that make me feel so conflicted.

"But even though he may be the only guy that makes me feel like I could never smile big enough for, the only one that I care if his jaw drops when he sees me, the only one whose feel of his skin makes mine burn; I can live with out him. I have to live without him because he can live without me. Sure, life will always be a little bit worse knowing I'll be setting for something less and that what I had with him was so great, but I'll survive. Life with Will would have had its problems, it already has and that was definitely not forever. So let him have Melanie. Let him find misery or happiness. I don't care just so long as I find a new reason to get out of this bed."

Corey felt her jaw drop. Anya felt hers stiffen. They both felt protective. They had never seen Lizzy in this state. They'd seen her miserable. They'd seen her numb. They'd seen her cry. They'd never seen her defensive. That was before Will. Back when Lizzy still thought she could be something without the help of anyone else. But Will had taken that from her. He'd taken her independence and made her love him. Then he just took himself out of the equation. She still loved him for all those years they were apart. She still needed him. She couldn't get through a day without the thought of him. She couldn't get through a date without comparing the guy to him. But now they got to see it. They got to see Lizzy remember that if Will didn't want to be with her, then Lizzy didn't want to be with him. She didn't need him anymore; she just needed to know that happiness was out there somewhere waiting for her.

And maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Maybe she'd end up a miserable cow. But she'd rather be a miserable old cow later, than a miserable old cow now. She wanted to have fun. She didn't need something that could last forever. She'd found that, and forever turns out to be shorter than you'd think. She just needed to find happiness in that moment. She needed to find someone that could make her smile, not someone that could buy her a house. Maybe she could do that all by herself. Maybe the original plan was right all along. Maybe she should love herself. Maybe she shouldn't limit herself to anything except the sky.

She didn't know if she could change the world, or even just be a part of it, but she could change her world. She could finally stop being a spirit that lived outside her body, but a spirit that controls herself. A spirit that lets her have fun, jump out of airplanes, meet famous people, remember what her childhood was like, or even just travel to the moon from theconfines of her dreams. She hadn't been a person since she was so little. She'd become so scared of getting hurt that she ended up broken into a million pieces.

And the worst thing was, that it wasn't Will's fault. She'd been hurt and pushed him away, not the other way around. The only man she needed was her father and when he'd died she'd pushed all others as far away as possible. She stopped calling Will, hoping that he'd break her heart because she wanted out. If it hurt her that bad to see him go after a mere two years with him, think how it would have felt after 50 years. She'd latched onto him for all that time out of regret. She tortured herself and now she realized she was too late.

Because she'd accepted the inevitable heartbreak, she ended up landing herself a lifetime of it.

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_Ok. All I have to say is that I really have to pee._

_Ok byyyyye. (Review!)_


	20. Chapter19

_I'mmm backk!_**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 19_

Will was stir-crazy. Over the next two weeks, thoughts of his upcoming wedding should have consumed his every thought. He should have dreamed of all the things that could go wrong and all the things that could go right. He should have been making plans for the honeymoon and setting up his apartment for what came next. But, to be perfectly honest, he couldn't. He tried to think about the benefits of short-stemmed roses or weather or not his tux was wrinkled, but he just couldn't. So his tux lay hidden in the very back of his closet and his face was shoved into file after file as he sought refuge from the confines of him glamorous office.

But it still wasn't enough. Something was not right. He'd freaked out Georgie when he came to her with a blank check and his permission to do anything she wanted to change the design of his office. But even with her homey touches it still felt cold. Just like his apartment, it was still missing something.

Even that wasn't the hardest part. It was the amount of energy it took for him to deny everyday that he knew exactly what it was missing. But he couldn't lie to himself. His apartment needed the inescapable presence of a free-spirited, hard-headed, fiery little blonde. His bed missed the lump in the covers where she should have slept. His office was missing framed photographs of her and little notes that she'd e-mail him everyday.

Instead the lump was Melanie. The photos were too. And the messages mostly said things like, "Too busy with the wedding to chat."

It didn't matter that she was cold, for he was just as cold back. He didn't care that she slapped him away; in fact he was relieved when she did. His heart was cold. His fiancé was cold. His apartment was cold. And with the sending of his invitations just over two weeks ago, his own sister became cold with disappointment.

But, you know how people can be. Denial is a powerful thing. Feelings can be repressed forever. Muscle memory eventually takes over for the shell a person can become. Misery is only noticed by those on the outside.

Ironic that while Lizzy remembered who she could be, Will forgot how to be anything.

But something always happens. People always snap. Unfortunately for Will it wasn't until two days before his wedding. Melanie had recently decided that she should stay at her own place for what remained of their time as singletons, and claimed it was improper for the world to know they shared a bed. Will felt like if they knew what happened within that bed, they wouldn't feel as though it were improper at all. It had been almost a week since he'd last seen his fiancé, and, to be perfectly honest, he'd barely even noticed.

That night he came home from work and pulled the mail out of its chute like he did everyday. He had his suit jacket in one arm so he fumbled with the bulky mess of letters and bills with his free arm and used his other to balance the jacket. He didn't want to get it wrinkly again and have to go through the whole thing again.

After he finally managed to press the elevator button using only his pinky, and threw the mail in the hall as he unlocked his apartment. He slipped inside and hooked his jacket on the back of the first door he could find. He took off his jacket from the day and tossed it across the apartment. He didn't even realize he'd done this, for Melanie had broken him of that habit months ago. He dropped his keys onto the little glass table by the door and winced at the horrible scraping noise the metal made against the glass. There was a little scratch in the glass. He rearranged the keys to cover it, just for a little while, just until he could find a better solution.

Eventually he tried not to think about the scratch, it would be weeks until Melanie would be back in the apartment; he had plenty of time to think about it. He stepped back into the hall, using the side of his foot to keep the door open so he didn't lock himself out and bending over to grab the mail where he'd dropped it. By the time he'd swung back around into the apartment and moved from the door allowing it to bang closed, he'd finally noticed it.

It was a lumpy little package in a manila envelope padded with bubble wrap, too small to be files, too lumpy to be Melanie Fed-exing back her ring. (Not that that thought _ever_ crossed his mind.) He dropped the rest of the standard mail on the table and didn't even wince as the stack ground his keys into the glass once again. It was all lost on him, for Will had suddenly recognized the name scribbled across the front of that envelope.

He tore at the paper viciously, as if he were a starving man and the envelope held the only food he'd seen in days. The paper was tough and the bubble-wrap snapped as he tried to rip through it. Eventually he managed to peel up the tape on one side of the envelope and slide out the rectangle it held inside.

It was a video-tape. A square, plastic, black little tape with only a sticky-note reading, "I thought I'd sent it. Funny how things turn out."

It was unmistakably Lizzy, and as he popped the tape into his VCR he tried to prepare himself for what he was about to see but he still found it a little bit harder to breathe when he saw her image on the screen. She looked stressed, worn, resigned. She had her hair in a sloppy ponytail and was wearing her pajamas as if she were wallowing. She wasn't the image of perfection, but she was his Lizzy and if you'd tried to tell Will differently he'd have punched you in the face.

"Hi Will," she said softly and lifted her hand weakly as if she were waving. "It's been awhile hasn't it? I've missed you."

It was the tape from college. He tried to look away in shame, this was a Lizzy that was ignorant of how he'd break her heart, and still he couldn't take his eyes from the screen.

"It's been a rough couple weeks. I don't know if you've heard," she paused and shifted, taking great measures not to look into the camera. "Dad died," she sighed eventually, as if by saying such a simple fact she was confirming it to be true.

"It was two days ago. I couldn't even make it there to see him." She was crying now, but her pride caused her to cover her face to hide her tears. "Anyway," she wiped her eyes, "he had a heart attack. They said it was peaceful, but you know anything that has the word 'attack' in it can't be all that gentle.

"I don't really know why I'm telling you this, except that when something horrible happens you just want to tell the person you're closest to so you can cry on their shoulder, and even though I've never been much of a crying type of girl, I thought maybe that person was you.

"God Will, why does this hurt so badly? I mean I hardly ever saw the man. How can someone you barely know, leave you so, so heartbroken?

"You know what's crazy? When Mom called to tell me I literally couldn't breathe. It was like someone had thrown me on the floor and jumped on me until my lungs exploded. Then, when I stood up, it wasn't me anymore. It was like I was suddenly a shell, not able to think or breathe or feel.

"I wish you would just come out here and visit me. It's been so long since I've seen you and maybe if you were around again I'd feel better. You may be the world's biggest idiot, but you seem to be the only idiot that reminds me what it's like to be a human being. I love you, you know? I know you've said it before and I never responded because it really freaked me out, but I loved you even more for waiting for me to say it back, rather than just forcing me. I love that sometimes it's like I can feel you thinking about me. I love you, because I love you even when you're nine billion miles away. I love you because even when I'm hurt, you get me off the floor. I love you because you make me happy. I love you and to be perfectly honest that scares the shit out of me, because two days ago I lost the only man I've ever needed and realized that he wasn't the only man I needed."

She was smiling lightly now, but her eyes still mourned for her father and Will tried to pause the feeling in his stomach as her image quickly disappeared only to be replaced by blaring static and black and white squiggles. He wanted to feel that elation again. The way his stomach jumped when she spoke about him. He wanted to rewind his life, to just go back and be there, be there with her.

Even though it was seven years too late, Will's heart suddenly shattered into a million pieces.

* * *

_You must hate me by now. I'm sorry it's been soooooo long. I was busy with finals, and my cousins wedding, then my father's birthday, then getting a new job, then quitting my old job, then going home. It's been busy._

_Anyway it's summer now. Hopefull I'll have more time for updating. Hopefully..._

_Ok. We're getting close here people. Just be patient._


	21. Chapter 20

_We're getting to the fun stuff people. This chapter is a lot more lighthearted than the others. I decided my tone was getting a bit too dark._**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 20_

It was out of Lizzy's reach. She tried jumping, and even with a running start she still couldn't reach it.

"What are you doing?" a round woman asked, standing in Lizzy's doorway with and amused expression and a sparkling glow.

"I can't get this damn shoe box," Lizzy growled in exasperation, not even bothering to turn and face the woman.

She crossed the room and grabbed the chair from Lizzy's little desk. She placed it beside her and stepped up onto it, easily grabbing the shoe box from the top shelf of Lizzy's closet.

"Erin! You shouldn't be standing on chairs in your condition. What if you fell?" Lizzy grabbed her hand as if steadying her or acting as her safety net.

"I'm pregnant Liz. Not handicapped. I think I can manage myself when I'm only a foot above the floor." She smiled down at Lizzy then wobbled, pretending she was about to fall. Lizzy jumped forward as if to catch her, Erin just laughed. "What are these anyway?" she asked looking at the shoe box and taking off the lid. Her eyes bulged as she beheld the most breathtaking vibrant pink shoes she'd ever seen. "Oh god I want them," she groaned looking at Lizzy with pleading eyes and stepping down from the chair.

"No way," she replied yanking the shoes from Erin's hands. "I bought them to wear with my dress."

Erin's shoulders sagged. "They wouldn't have fit my swollen feet anyway," she said pathetically.

"Shut up. You love being pregnant," Lizzy snapped airily back as she pulled her pink dress from the hidden depths of her closet.

Erin immediately gasped. "I'd love it even more if I could fit into that dress." She quickly rushed over to Lizzy and ran her fingers over the fine silk material and sighed again. "How can you afford this?"

Lizzy shrugged. "Signing bonus type thing. Want to see it on?"

Erin nodded eagerly as Lizzy quickly slipped into the dress then felt herself writhe in jealousy when Lizzy turned to her. "Oh god I wish we could trade places. You were born to wear that dress."

Lizzy spun again and the floating pink skirt twirled around her; it was perfect for dancing in. She turned to the mirror and ran her hands along her stomach, feeling the soft fabric. She could touch this dress all day. She could wear it all day too. It looked amazing on her. The pink lit up her complexion and was sharp enough to make her distinguishable in a crowd. The cut across her stomach squeezed her in and presented her to be as skinny as she could ever wish to be. She slowly stepped into the strappy matching stilettos and smiled at Erin. "So what do you think?"

"I think you should never take it off. You shall get married, create your first baby and be buried in that dress."

Lizzy giggled and checked herself in the mirror again. "Not quite my old layered tank-tops from high school now, is it?"

Erin shook her head. "Not even close."

"Lizzy, I'm home!" they heard Corey shout then moments later she barged into the room and stopped in her tracks. "My god! Is that the wedding dress?" she asked excitedly, her mouth hanging slightly agape.

"Wedding dress? Oh God, please say you're wearing it to Darcy's wedding!" Erin, although she'd never admit it, was a bit cruel sometimes. She would take great pleasure in watching Darcy squirm his way up to the aisle when Lizzy would be sitting there in _that_ dress. When she pictured the scene Lizzy sat in the front row, where she was clearly visible, and Erin spent the next thirty seconds maliciously plotting ways to _actually_ get Lizzy into the front row for the ceremony. Maybe say something about getting pictures of Eddie in a tux.

"Yes I am. In large part to make him jealous, but mostly so that after it's over with I'll be able to find someone to help me get over this whole ordeal."

"So that's it then? Are we finally getting over Will?" Corey asked sounding almost slightly disappointed.

"Yes. This weekend will provide ample closure and now that I've finally admitted that I need him, I can learn to get on without him," Lizzy said, smiling resignedly and stepping out of the shoes.

"I'll never understand your logic Lizzy," Erin sighed shaking her head and attempting to bend over and pick up the shoes. It was proving to quite difficult seeing as she had a forty pound lump on her stomach. Eventually, while Lizzy was changing out of her dress, Corey bent over to grab the shoes for her.

"Seven years," Lizzy hissed. "Need I say more?"

"I know," Erin replied, awkwardly trying to climb onto Lizzy's bed. "I'm just saying that you and Will were meant to be together. It may not seem like it now, but everything will work out." She smiled at Lizzy who only scowled in reply. "It's like when Eddie and I broke up after high school. Neither of us expected it to work out and the next thing I know, I'm hitched and towing around this giant lump."

Corey smiled secretly and sat beside Erin. "She does have a valid point."

Lizzy's mouth dropped in indignation. "You have to be kidding me! May I remind you Corey, as you so often did for me, that he's getting MARRIED. This weekend nonetheless. So you two, like I, need to stop wishing and even thinking that I'll end up with Will. We are two _very_ different people, going in two _very_ different directions and I think it's time that we all accept that!"

"I'm just saying-" Erin began in a sing-song voice.

"Well stop saying because it's not helping anyone!" Lizzy growled shoving her dress back on the coat hanger and angrily back into her closet. "I'm getting over it."

Corey and Erin shared a very secretive smile and both giggled. Lizzy tried not to act put out; she'd always been a horrible actress. "What's so funny?"

Corey sat up on the bed, where she'd collapsed with laughter. "You may be getting over it Lizzy, but is Will?" she asked as if there was something Lizzy had missed out on.

Lizzy rolled her eyes, in other circumstances that comment might have thrown her over the edge. "Well if he's not, getting married to someone else sure is a funny way of telling someone you still love them."

* * *

_Ok! I'm apologising in advanced because I'm gone for the next 2 weeks as of tomorrow, so unless there is some kind of miracle in the next day I wouldn't expect any update. _

_But there are only 5 chapters left (and an epilogue) so you should be really excited about the end. I know I am._

_Anyway I've been outlining new stories and the major problem is that I have so many of them. I really want to finish Dont Panic because it's actually a really cute plot and I have the rest really set so it should be easy to write. Then I have another P&P that has similar events but Lizzy and Will have a slightly differant view of eachother and Lizzy is kind of crazy. Then I have a P&P from Darcy's POV (but his name is Pat) and finally a weird Reversi-Cinderella story. I like them all but the Cinderella will probably go after Don't Panic. ( I hope)_

_Ok No more rambling._


	22. Chapter 21

It's wedding day everyone. Love is... in this general region, or at least continent.**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 21_

Obligation is a four letter word. Technically, it has ten letters but to Will Darcy it might as well have had four and started with an F because obligation was the reason that Will Darcy felt so royally fucked.

He looked in the mirror for the umpteenth time that day and tried desperately to repress the wince that surfaced every time he saw himself in that confining penguin suit. He felt so stuck. Stuck in his life, stuck in this atrocious suit.

"You better be careful. If you keep making that face it'll get stuck like that and I don't think your bubbly bride would be too happy about that."

Will didn't have to turn around to know exactly who had said that. He looked up in the mirror and stared into the rarely serious face of his favorite cousin. "Like you'd know anything about weddings. This is a perfectly natural reaction to such a momentous decision."

Fitz Darcy laughed. "So I suppose that explains that horrible rash breaking out on your neck."

Will quickly tugged on the collar of his stiff white shirt. "Shit! I'm red, Fitz! Why am I so red?" Will was full out panicking now. Was it possible he was having an allergic reaction to making bad decisions?

"Calm down, Will. You're just nervous," came the soothing voice of Will's best friend who lay on the couch in their dressing room playing with a deck of cards. Under different circumstances Will would have yelled at him for wrinkling his suit, but he was too preoccupied with the rash quickly spreading up his neck and inching toward his face.

"He's right, Will. You just need to chill, unless you have any particular reason not to go through with this, because in all honesty, no man reacts this badly when it comes to marriage unless he's freaking out." It was possible that Fitz was just trying to make Will feel better. Possible, but not probable.

"Shut up Fitz. I'm getting married today no matter what," Will grumbled tugging his tie loose and glaring at himself in the mirror.

"I'm not saying you aren't. I'm just saying that if you change your mind I've plotted an escape route out the back of the church. Georgie will tackle the bride, Charlie here can distract the minister, and I'd be more than happy to explain away all the guests."

"Shut up Fitz!"

"I'm just saying. The opportunity exists, for emergencies," Fitz replied, holding up his hands in surrender and changing the topic as Will fiddled furiously with his tie and his face was quickly consumed by the pink rash. "So where's the honeymoon, Tiger?"

"Honeymoon? Oh-uh France?" Will stuttered.

"Virgin Islands," Charlie shouted flipping through his deck of cards unconcerned.

"You forgot where your own honeymoon is?" Fitz practically yelled. "You should be counting the seconds, not completely forgetting it."

"I didn't forget," Will protested. "I'm just a bit preoccupied at the moment."

Suddenly the door slammed in the back of the luxurious room and all three men turned toward the noise just as Georgie Darcy began to yell. "You have got to be kidding me."

Fitz stifled a giggle, Charlie's jaw dropped, and Will managed to drop his tie. "What happened to you?" Fitz asked, his laughter finally bursting from him.

There stood Georgie Darcy with her makeup streaming down her face and her hair more closely resembling a bird's nest. "The Evil Sea Bitch. That's what happened. Will, if you marry that demon I am officially divorcing you as a brother."

"Not even an option," Charlie shouted, picking his cards back up and resuming his absent flipping. Georgie flipped him something in return.

"Could be worse Georgie. Makeup can be fixed. Will here's face is turning red," Fitz replied finally grabbing Will's tie from him and doing it himself.

"Anxiety rash," Georgie replied, stepping closer to Will to examine his face. "People get it right before they throw their lives down the toilet. Good luck with that, Will."

Will elbowed her and Fitz away, grabbing his tie back. "Either help, Georgie, or get out. This is hard enough as it is without you three pestering me about ruining my life."

"I have refrained from pestering of all sorts," Charlie chipped in.

"Oh yes, Charlie. Your silence has been very comforting," Will replied sarcastically. "Do you guys not understand that this decision has been made and there is no point trying to talk me out of it? Got it?"

Fitz nodded. Charlie resumed his card flipping. Georgie scowled. "I don't get it," she protested. "You made your decision and none of us even got a say in the matter. Melanie doesn't just become a part of your life; she becomes a part of ours too. This isn't something you _have_ to go through with. This isn't something to force yourself to do. This should be the easiest decision of your life! You've fucked up in the past, you great loser, but that doesn't mean you can't fuck up again."

"I'm not fucking up. I'll be happy with Melanie," Will replied solidly and turned back to his mirror. "Now go fix your face before I kick you out of my wedding."

"Like you would," she muttered darkly as she left. "I'm the last person that still even likes you anymore."

Fitz shook his head sadly, but smiled nonetheless. "Well that was… refreshing. Almost ready?"

Will finally gave up on his tie and surrendered it once again to the clutches of his cousin as Charlie finally quit his cards and came over to perform his best man duties. "You'll be fine Will," he soothed diplomatically. "You just need to relax."

Will slowly let his shoulders drop and took three deep breaths. His rash rushed out of his face as quickly as it came and somewhere in the depths of his mind he pushed away the image of the girl that could relax him by the mere thought. No matter what, he vowed to not pretend it was her he was marrying.

"We should go," Fitz added as he brushed off Will's shoulders. "You might want to smile or else people might think you're being blackmailed into this wedding."

"Yeah, yeah. What would I do if I didn't have Fitz watching out for me, eh?" Darcy added laying on the sarcasm again.

"Oh that's cool. Just bite my head off." Fitz smirked and led the way for the other two straight to the altar. They stood awkwardly for a moment, making sure Will was ready before they set off to find their female escorts. Fitz peered over Will's shoulder and whistled just as a stunning girl in a stunning pink dress followed a waddling pregnant lady to the front of the church. "My god is that Lizzy?" he asked and Will whirled around to face his greatest obstacle, and then quickly looked away. In moments of weakness, Will was not fool enough to look temptation in the eye.

Charlie set off back down the aisle, winking and blowing a kiss at his glowing wife, but before Fitz set off he leaned into Will and muttered in his ear before then quickly rushed off, "Since you'll officially be off the market, do you think it might be cool if I ask Lizzy out?"

Fitz's words reverberated in Will's head and his eyes flicked to the gorgeous girl sitting in the aisle instead of the one slowly walking down it. He suddenly found himself gulping for breath, and his neck felt itchy.

Obligation is most definitely a four letter word.

* * *

_Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a freespirited hippy that cursed the ideas of chivalry and obligation, but if that were the case this whole thing wouldn't be nearly hard enough for poor Will._

_He's a bit of an idiot anyways. _

_So was this update sooner than you thought? Yeah, me too. Im hoping to finish writing this week because... 9drum roll please) I finally got a new computer that works and it's a lappy so I can gtote it around with me! Woop-ee!_

_I'll nw spend my entire life at Starbucks._


	23. Chapter 22

Christmas come early? Nope. Just a fast update.

Out of everything I've ever written, this is probably one of my favorite scenes. Enjoy my chaotic take on Will Darcy's wedding and I'm sorry if it's a bit... messy. (Not just the typos... sorry about those, new keyboard...)

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 22_

Lizzy followed the waddling footsteps of her best friend down the aisle and took a seat much too close to the front for her liking. She smiled nervously at her best friend and tried to suppress her instant urge to look up at the altar in hopes that Will wasn't there.

"Why is his face all red?" Erin asked and Lizzy suppressed an urge to giggle as Will shifted uncomfortably in the presence of Lizzy's old high school crush, Fitz Darcy, who was muttering something to Will. "He looks like he's going to be sick," Erin added, her voice going from playful to maternal worry.

"Maybe we should move a few rows back, in that case," Lizzy added cheekily, but Erin ignored her as her husband blew her a kiss and an over the top wink on his trip down the aisle.

Erin grabbed Lizzy's hand and linked their fingers. "That was the signal Lizzy. This is really going to happen," Erin added. Lizzy had the feeling that Erin was more nervous about the upcoming proceedings than she was. In fact Lizzy was starting to feel a bit relieved; no matter how she felt about Will, she absolutely refused to like anyone that could marry a cow like Melanie Slaide.

"Let's hope," she breathed through her teeth and untangled her fingers from Erin's. She always thought it was a bit weird when girls held hands and today was no exception. If anything it was an even worse day to be caught holding hands with a girl; she needed to appear completely aloof and relaxed; unfazed. Across the aisle she noticed Will's bitchy mom, who would be more than happy to label Lizzy a lesbian in wake of her son's marriage; that woman was reason enough to be glad she wasn't with Will anymore.

Finally, the room grew silent and the blasé string quartet picked up a bit as everyone turned to watch the cute little flower girls toss their petals into the hair of the women sitting directly next to the aisle and a million flashes of light as everyone snapped picture after picture.

First down the aisle was a girl that looked a lot like Melanie's bitchy secretary and Lizzy found it slightly pathetic that her bridesmaids were all people on her company payroll. Well, except Georgie, who came next and was practically dragged down the aisle by Fitz and scowled at her brother the entire time, her face no longer blotchy and her hair tied up gracefully. Will shifted nervously and loosened his tie as his face reddened again.

"I'm sensing that Georgie isn't all that excited by her new sister in law," Lizzy muttered to Erin, smiling evilly, but Erin just swatted at her and made a poignant hushing face as her husband began his walk down the aisle with his arm linked with an aloof looking red head that spent the entire walk staring at the ceiling.

Then the music switched and there at the end of the aisle stood Melanie Slaide covered in white. _Like that woman should be allowed to wear white, _Lizzy thought and gave a soft snort that caused all the people around them to look in their direction, including Fitz who shot Lizzy a repressed grin that showed he also found humor in the situation. By the time Lizzy had composed herself again and looked back up at the people around her, her face was red and Melanie Slaide was already taking the hand of her fiancé as he shot Lizzy a couple of quick glances and shifted again. She was making a scene and the look on his now vibrantly red face made her crack again as she quickly covered her mouth and slid lower on the bench.

She was officially losing it and every face in the room shot to her as she snorted even louder. Fitz, on the altar, was clearly covering his own laughter as if it were a cough and placed his hand in front of his cheeky grin. Erin quickly rubbed Lizzy's back trying to soothe her and Eddie elbowed Fitz in the ribs, causing him to peel over and a chuckle to escape. Georgie finally stopped glaring at Will and let out a giggle of her own. Melanie, however, was determined to ignore all of them as she dragged Will, who was still staring at Lizzy as if she were mad, up to the priest and motioned for him to start.

"Dearly beloved," the priest began and all three of the laughing guests lost it again in unison, but the priest merely raised his voice and continued. "We are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony." Georgie was no longer trying to hide her giggles and just as the priest said "holy" she threw her head back in a cackling laughter that even made guests in the back of the room giggle. Mrs. Darcy shot glares around the room at anyone she saw even crack a smile, specifically Georgie and Lizzy.

Melanie glared at the priest and moved her hand to indicate he go a bit faster. His voice grew even louder as he turned to Will. "William Darcy, do you promise to take this woman, Melanie Slaide, as your wedded wife for forever and eternity?"

Will visibly blanched and suddenly all color drained from his face. He hesitated for a period of time that wasn't unnaturally long, but seemed like eternity with all the people staring and giggling. He heard Fitz whisper, "Don't forget my offer," and then heard him laugh again to his right. "Um," Will stuttered, casting a very angry looking Melanie a look. "Okay," he finally finished pathetically and tugged his tie loose again.

"Liar," Georgie coughed into her hand. Lizzy couldn't help but giggle again. Melanie glared at Georgie and ignored Lizzy completely, who was now just trying to catch her breath as Erin shot panicked looks at her husband, who was also smiling a bit too broadly for the situation. Mrs. Darcy looked as though she might strangle Georgie.

"And Melanie," the priest continued even louder, "do you take this mad- I mean man, William Darcy, as your wedded wife- I mean husband, for forever and erm… eternity?" The entire room practically erupted with laughter. The priest was starting to panic. He shot quick looks around the room and tried to loosen his own tie, but as a priest he doesn't actually wear one.

"Would you people shut up?" Melanie bellowed her face now red in anger. Will looked as though he might just faint. "Ask the question again, and ask it right," she demanded of the priest as the room quickly fell silent at her biting tone. Lizzy leaned forward; she was now literally on the edge of her seat. The priest cast another panicked glance around the room and hesitated too long for Melanie' liking. "You know what? Never mind, fuck it! Will Darcy there is no way I will marry you and your barbaric friends!" she shouted even louder than her commands and her face more closely resembled the animal she'd turned into that day Lizzy had met her in the office.

"Thank god!" a voice in the back shouted as Christian stood up excitedly.

"Sit back down," Melanie commanded Christian as she began to storm down the aisle. Lizzy watched with excitement in her eyes as she felt Erin grab tightly to her forearm as if she might stand up and beat the hell out of Melanie. As if Lizzy would; she was enjoying the show far too much to join in. Melanie then grabbed the arm of another man and yanked him from his seat. "Let's go Kevin," she chirped angrily as the man scowled and sat right back down. Erin grabbed Lizzy's arm even harder and began to twist.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Kevin spat. "You're a cheating whore!"

Melanie glared even harder. "You knew I was engaged," she growled, her face flaming.

"Yeah I knew, but then I found out about George, and John, and my little brother!" Kevin announced loudly, "and now this deushbag? Uh-uh" Kevin shook his head. "No fucking way am I going anywhere with you, Melanie."

Up on the altar, Will stood wide eyed as Charlie, Fitz, and Georgie lost themselves in laughter once again and the maid of honor looked as though she'd just figured out where she was. Erin then began to pinch Lizzy's arm, hard, and she ripped her eyes off the scene as Erin whispered her name sounding very short on breath. "I think… I think…" Erin panted and suddenly Lizzy's attention was drawn to her feet as her gorgeous pink shoes became soaking wet.

"I think my water just broke," Erin finally managed.

* * *

_And you guys thought my last cliffhanger was bad..._

_So what do you think? I love this scene because it's so ridiculous, all the laughter all the cliches. _

_So was it as good as you hoped? Worth the wait?_

_There are four more chapters and an Epilogue... sooooo... hahahahahaha. I just can't stop laughing!_


	24. Chapter 23

**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 23_

Lizzy tried for the umpteenth time in the past four hours not to look to the side of the waiting area where Will sat with his face in his hands, and instead flipped another card that Fitz and Georgie quickly slapped and fought over.

"My hand is under yours!" Georgie whined, trying to pull Eddie's deck of cards out of Fitz's hand.

"But mine was there first," Fitz whined back, sounding even more juvenile than he did in high school. "Wasn't it Lizzy?"

Lizzy shrugged helplessly and snapped her attention back to the game they were playing. "Why don't you just split them?"

Both Fitz and Georgie immediately began to bicker over who would get the highest card when the door to the waiting room opened and Eddie came through looking thoroughly discouraged. Everyone jumped to their feet, and Will even managed to pull his face out of his hands to watch Eddie as he addressed the odd quartet that was far too dressed up for a hospital's waiting room. Eddie shook his head slowly, then a smile burst across his face. "It's a boy!"

Everyone rushed to Eddie, swarming him with hugs; everyone except Will, who just put his face back into his hands. Georgie smiled as she pulled away from Eddie. "It had to be a boy didn't it? Doesn't God know that we have enough of them in the world?"

Eddie laughed and hugged her again. "Sorry Georgie, it's a boy."

Georgie scowled for a moment then smiled. "Whatever. Just make sure he doesn't become a bastard."

Will in his corner shuffled, but kept his face planted firmly in his hands. It had been but five hours ago that his bride-to-be rushed down the aisle, confessed about all her cheatings, and then ripped her dress when it got caught on the door as it slammed behind her. Needless to say, he was still in shock.

"C'mon, Godfather," Georgie squeaked excitedly, as she plopped down beside him and grabbed his arm to pry his hands from his face. "Don't you want to meet your godson?"

Will looked up just in time to see Fitz wrap his arm over Lizzy's shoulder as the pair of them followed Eddie out of the waiting room. He hated that all thoughts of Melanie running out on him just disappeared and he was back in school pissed off at the world because Lizzy was flirting with his cousin. Then suddenly it hit him like lightening. He didn't have to be upset that it was Lizzy on his mind and not his fiancé, because Will Darcy no longer had a fiancé. He was free to think about whoever he wanted and that just happened to be Lizzy Morgan. Hell, Will was finally FREE!

Will smiled slightly and finally stood up. "Yeah. I really would," he told his sister who promptly hopped to her feet beside him and grabbed his hand to lead him to Erin's room where the rest were waiting for him.

There was Eddie and Erin, laying together on her bed, both glowing in the new parent brightness and sweat. Fitz was cooing over the little baby that Lizzy held in her arms, giggling as she played with his tiny little fingers. She looked up at him and smiled, and, for the first time in a long time, Will felt a little glimmer of hope tug at him. "Do you want to meet your godson?" she asked as Fitz stepped aside and sat down heavily in one of the chairs a nurse had brought in for them.

Will stepped closer and smiled at the miniature creature that lay in Lizzy's arms and lightly poked its bare stomach. Lizzy laughed softly and bounced the baby in her arms. It's eyes opened and glittered the a blue that matched Lizzy's.

"Erin I think you have some explaining to do," Darcy said, smiling for the first time that day, or possibly that month. "Neither you, nor you husband have blue eyes."

Georgie, who had been peering over his shoulder, punched him on the arm and smiled. "It's a recessive gene, Will."

Eddie chuckled from the bed. "Don't worry Will. I'm sure it's mine."

Lizzy walked back to Eddie and gently passed him his son. "Plus lots of babies have blue eyes right after they're born. They just get darker later," she added smartly as she too took a chair with Fitz.

"It's so cute," Georgie cooed. "I want one!"

Will's eyes bugged and his jaw dropped. Fitz chuckled. "Not yet, you don't, cuz."

"And you can stop referring to my son as an 'it', Georgie. It- he's," she corrected quickly, "a boy, named Connor, and he's six pounds, seven ounces, and absolutely beautiful," Erin added as she too cooed over the little baby.

"Not to mention, bastard free," Eddie added while Erin punched him on the arm and chastised him for cussing in front of her son.

Lizzy jumped for a moment and wriggled around in her chair until she produced a phone from god knows wherever she had it hidden in her killer pink dress. "Core?" she asked the phone and smiled.

"Where are you?" Corey shouted at Lizzy from her line of the phone.

Lizzy smiled. "I'm at the hospital."

"Oh god," Corey groaned into the phone. "I knew that wedding would end badly, but the hospital!"

Lizzy laughed and Will cast her a questioning glance, wondering what her best friend could possibly be saying. "It's not that. Erin had her baby."

Fitz backed away as the entire room heard the phone bust with a horrible grainy screaming, and Lizzy quickly pulled it away from her ear. "It's a boy," she replied eventually. "They named it Christian," she added seriously and everyone shared confused looks. Then she laughed and told Corey she was only kidding. "News? What kind of news?" Lizzy asked the phone, while absentmindedly playing with the hem of her dress. She didn't know it, but this was driving Will crazy.

"Good news about me? I don't know how much more news I can hear about today," Lizzy replied to the voice no one else could hear, but could safely guess what it had said.

Will shifted uncomfortably as he put two and two together. He hoped it would be his last uncomfortable shift for the day. But knowing what Corey was hinting at to Lizzy, he couldn't help but know what kind of hole his own stupidity had dug for him.

_Okay_, he reflected. _What kind of loser says okay when the answer is clearly no?_

Will had more than his share of bridges to burn, but looking at Lizzy Morgan as she teased his cousin and fit so well with all of his best friends, Will knew he'd do anything it took to have her back in all her coconut scented goodness. ...Just like high school.

* * *

_I love it when Will is niave... I'm not saying anything..._

_Anyway. I quit one of my jobs! ( Today! I'm on a screw the establishment high!)Woo-hoo! Do you know what that means? More writing time! (Hence the presence of another chapter.) In case you haven't noticed I'm determined to finish this story, THIS week. (So not gonna happen seeing as I have four parts remaining and work a double for the next two days. But Gimme 'till Wednesday.) _

_Okay I hafta go. I got another chapter to write._

_I need a six letter word that starts with an R and means "To look at again."_


	25. Chapter 24

_I like to call this scene "The Final Battle." You know where Harry and Voldy-shorts duke it out for the last time..._**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 24_

"Oh. It's just you," Anya muttered sleepily as she released the door and let it slowly swing closed in his face. Corey and Lizzy, who stood nearby brandishing a golf club and over mitts, shot her questioning looks as Anya pulled off her sleeping mask and adjusted her pajamas. "It's Will," she muttered and both girls' confusion doubled.

"Why did you close the door on him?" Corey asked, still hugging her oven mitts for safety and rushing across the room to open the door again.

Lizzy shot Anya a shared disbelieving look. "Are you kidding me? How about because less than 12 hours ago he agreed to marry another woman?"

Corey shrugged and tried not to smile. "Closure right?" she said far too brightly for such an ungodly hour then swung their apartment door open again. "You weren't leaving were you?" she shouted down the hall without even looking. About half a second later she realized that Will was standing in their doorway, his nose had to have been pressed against the door not moments before.

"Why would I leave?" Will asked as Corey opened the door wider to signal that he enter.

"You honestly let him in?" Anya asked in disbelief. "Who are you and what did you do with my pessimistic roommate?"

Corey smiled against her nature and shoved Anya in the direction of their rooms. "C'mon," she prodded, "don't you have a hot date with the stockbroker tomorrow?"

Anya glared daggers at Will, but her silent protests fell on deaf ears as he was locked in a staring battle with Lizzy. Eventually, she gave up and followed Corey back to their rooms.

"So…" Will breathed eventually, his eyes still locked into Lizzy's.

Lizzy shrugged. "Looking for a little rebound action?" she asked simply.

"No," he replied quickly.

"Then why are you here?" she asked, smiling slightly, as if she couldn't care less.

Will stuck out his bottom lip as if calculating odds or doing addition in his head. "How about because I love you?"

Lizzy snorted and tried not to laugh. "You didn't really expect me to jump into your arms with that declaration, did you?" she asked, her face etched with humor and not the bitterness that it once held. "That wouldn't have worked on me even when I was sixteen and completely smitten with you."

"I'm not stupid-"

"Really?" she squeaked, drawing out the _eally_. "Because intelligent men don't actually go through with their weddings when they claim to love someone else."

Will rolled his shoulders around, as if loosening up for a big boxing match. "So? It's not like I _actually_ got married…"

Lizzy practically cackled. "Because your fiancé is a cheating whore, which I had warned you about, not because you were having second thoughts."

"But I _was_ having second thoughts. Second and third and fourth and hundredth thoughts, for that matter. I just felt obligated," he replied, her light tone starting to make him frustrated. If she wouldn't even take him seriously…

"Well then you did a great job forcing yourself to stop thinking," she muttered, her face still pressed into a superior smile.

"God, why can't you just stop being a smart ass and let me love you?" he asked, tugging at his hair in frustration.

She scoffed at him. "Because every time I do that, _I_ seem to get hurt the whole exchange. It's like you flit into my life and make me fall for you whenever you feel like it, but then move on, because I'm not good enough. I'm not your 'one,' apparently"

"But you are," he replied, gesturing emphatically.

"No, I'm just the one that got away," she replied. She was still so composed. A big part of Will just wanted her to get angry.

"Maybe in the past you were, but not anymore. This time I'm not letting you get away. This time you can't talk me out of it. I'm not leaving this hallway. I'll sit for however long it takes. I'll wait until I waste away because that's how I feel without you. Wasted."

"Oh cut the lines," Lizzy replied evenly. "This isn't a cheesy romance novel. This one you don't get to talk your way out of. You and I are history. Our lives are just too different, our personalities clash, and we've both just hurt each other in so many ways that we can't even take it back."

"But being without you would hurt the most-" he attempted.

"Shut up," she interjected, her voice rising merely a decibel. "You always say those stupid cheesy lines. They worked when I was 16, but not anymore. Don't tell me what you think you _should_ say. Tell me what you _want_ to say, Will. Tell it like it is."

Will took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine all the words that floated through his mind every time he looked at Melanie even though they were about Lizzy. "You are the biggest question mark in my life, Lizzy. You're… the one thing I can't control. I hate that I can't make you do anything. It drives me insane, and yet I miss it when it's gone.

"You kick in your sleep, did you know that? You kick me in the shins and in the morning I used to have bruises. One night you actually managed to pop me right in the jaw and remember how I told you that Eddie accidentally punched me over a violent game of Hungry-Hungry Hippos? You used to kick me awake at night and you know what sucks about it? Now I look at my bruise free shins and I think something just seems wrong. Or I wake up in the middle of the night, swearing that I felt someone kick me.

"You're my question mark. I want my question mark back… because without it my life is just a paragraph punctuated by periods."

Lizzy looked at him for a second then laughed. "You know, there are always exclamation points."

Will rolled his eyes and threw his hands up as she continued to laugh. "How are you taking this so lightly?"

Lizzy shrugged. "Guess I just learned to live without your snoring, which is the reason I used to kick you by the way, and the way your hair stands up like you've been electrocuted because you pull on it when you're frustrated. Sure I miss those things constantly. Some days I wake up and my body just kind of aches for you. But the bad things outweigh the good. The many hours I spent crying over you are twice as long as the ones I spent laughing with you. I'm tired of hurting."

Suddenly Will understood why she was so passive about this whole conversation. She didn't really care that he'd apologize a thousand times if she asked, she was over it. She'd moved on and he was still stuck in Lizzy Land.

He set his face with determination and his body seemed to become ten times heavier. "I'm not leaving this room without you."

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You can stay. I'm leaving for New York in a week anyway."

* * *

_Sigh. I knoooow. It sucks, doesn't it? Even makes me a bit depressed how stubborn she is_

_Don't worry, this is supposed to loosely resemble P&P, remember? Plus I'm not an "Evil Sea Witch." I don't torture intentionally. Do you really not trust me at all?_

_Wait it out. We still have a whole 2 chapters and an epilogue._

_(Oh and Lacey. I messed up. I was just hoping no one would notice. His name is Eddie. It's always been Eddie. I just blacked out.)_


	26. Chapter 25

_We're getting close._**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 25_

Lizzy walked into the kitchen area on her last day in her apartment and dropped her giant duffle bag to the floor with a heavy smile at her best friend who continued to crunch away on her bowl of Capt'n Crunch. She walked over without a word and grabbed the box, peering inside only to find it empty.

Wordlessly, Corey pulled another bowl from her hiding spot under the table and shoved it at Lizzy. "I couldn't let you leave without one last bowl of the Capt'n, since you'll never actually buy it for yourself."

Lizzy smiled gratefully and filled her bowl with milk. "You know in the eight years we've been roomies, I don't think you ever willingly gave me a bowl of the Capt'n."

"And yet you never had a day without it. Suspicious?"

Lizzy smiled the sad type of smile you wear when you're facing the end of an era. The room was filled with a grinding crunch as both girls wordlessly chewed their cereal in a sad looming silence.

"We should probably go soon," Lizzy forced herself to say as she gulped the dregs of milk from her cereal bowl down and put her dirty bowl in the dishwasher.

Corey snorted. "Seven years and you just figured out how to use a dishwasher?"

Lizzy scowled and picked back up her giant duffle bag. "Very funny. Now let's go before I miss my flight."

"That wouldn't be such a bad thing," Corey mumbled as if trying to keep herself from crying.

"As my agent, you should be more than happy to see me move on to bigger and better things. You should support me on my quest to achieve my dreams and you should also come with me," Lizzy stated matter-of-factly as she tiptoed past the sofa.

Corey shot her a disappointed look. "You're not even going to tell him goodbye?" she whispered, trying not to wake the man sleeping on their couch.

Lizzy's eyes popped. "Of course I'm not," she hissed. "I'm still surprised he's here. It's been _a whole week_. You haven't been feeding him have you?" Her voice returned to its normal volume as she passed into the hall of their building and closed the door behind Corey.

"Of course I've been feeding him," she replied normally as Lizzy pressed the elevator button and jumped with the shivers of leaving her building for the last time. "Do you want him to die from starvation?"

"No, I just thought we could starve him out."

"You can't starve out a labor of love," Corey replied smiling as both girls stepped into the elevator.

"Labor of love? All he does is sleep on our couch all day! I could get any old man to do that."

"He's showing you his determination," Corey responded. When had she become such a romantic?

"Well maybe he'll leave when he knows I'm gone," Lizzy said shrugging and adjusting her bag on her shoulder, trying to hide her discomfort.

"Or maybe I could get him to start paying rent," Corey replied hopefully. "Since all my roomies seem to find this to be the optimum time to move out."

The door to the elevator swung open again and the girls quickly set off for the street. Corey had spent weeks scoping out the perfect parking spot for her car when they were younger and now she was finally surrendering it to take Lizzy to LAX.

"So the Stockbroker finally proposed?" Lizzy asked.

Corey nodded and unlocked her SUV. "Who thought that out of the three of us Anya would be the first to get married?"

Lizzy shrugged and tossed her bag in the back seat. "I don't know. Everyone knows that the both of us are too emotionally fucked up for a real relationship."

"Define real? Because I had a torrid affair with a cabbie once."

Lizzy laughed as Corey pulled out of her parking spot. "Oh really? And why did I never hear about this?"

Corey shrugged and kept her attention focused on the road. "It only lasted about three blocks and I had to pay for the ride."

Lizzy laughed and pressed her forehead to the car window. "You're dirty, you know that?"

Corey shrugged again. "I'll learn to live with it."

The car was silent. It was weird that this could be one of their last heavy silences with each other. Lizzy tried not to think about it. "You know I'll come back all the time, right?"

"You better," Corey replied, flicking her eyes off the road for an instant. "With all that money you'll be making out there, god knows you'll be able to afford it."

"True."

In only a couple of extra minutes they were pulling into the airport. "You'll Fed-ex my stuff right?" Lizzy asked, her eyes suddenly beginning to water.

"I don't know. I bet if Will ever gets off the couch he'll rush off the New York to find you and I can send it with him, that or he'll go home and leave me all alone," she finished her voice starting to wallow in self-pity.

Lizzy smacked her arm playfully. "Just hug me and tell me you'll miss me."

"That's a given," Corey said, finally smiling. She leaned across the car and hugged her best friend. She hoped it wouldn't be the last time she'd see her, but Lizzy had been possessed lately. She'd been searching for a clean slate and Corey just hoped that when she reinvented herself that there'd still be room in her life for the old college friend that never grew up. "What should I tell Will about you leaving?"

Lizzy pulled away and wiped her eyes. "Tell him whatever you want. I don't care and I don't want my last words with my best friend to be about stupid Will Darcy."

"Well then you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you."

"Then don't tell me," Lizzy interjected. "I'm ready to move on now. You should support that more than anyone."

"You should know this though. I promised I wouldn't tell, but I can't let you walk out without knowing," Corey replied almost pleading with Lizzy who was quickly opening her car door and gathering her bag from the back.

"You act as though you're confessing your secret love for me," Lizzy replied sticking her head through the open car window for a couple of last words.

"Lizzy! This is serious. You'll want to hear it."

Lizzy shook her head. "No. I just want to hear you tell me goodbye." She smiled sadly one last time then pulled her head out of the window and threw her bag over her shoulder. As soon as she heard Corey say the final word, she set off to baggage check. She checked her bag. She found her terminal. Made it through security and took a seat in line for boarding.

It wasn't until she was waiting there in line, amongst traveling families and escaping couples, that she really began to itch with questions. She held out as long as she could, but as soon as they began boarding her plane, she finally gave into her urge.

She quickly dialed Corey's number and before Corey could even say hello, Lizzy was speaking. "Okay. You can tell me now."

* * *

_Gotta love the Cliffie! So whatcha think Corey's going to tell her? Maybe that Fitz called... (No. Not really)_

_I love the idea of Will refusing to leave. He just lives on her sofa. I thought it was cute. And Corey suddenly becoming a romantic. Is it possible that she knows something Lizzy doesn't know of that makes her so optimistic. She'd never liked Will at the beginning._ **What could possibly have happened to change her mind about him? **

_I know! Too bad you don't. Although you'll find out soon enough... (You can wait like one more day...)_

_Anyway, we're sooooo close. Last one baby! (Then an epi...) Anyone think we can break 300? If I don't... I'll be sad. Yeah, that's all I got._


	27. Chapter 26

_I wanted to do one last grammer check, but you guys wanted it fast. So. Enjoy... and excuse my errors._**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Chapter 26: The Last…_

It seemed very likely that, at any given moment, Will Darcy's apartment door was going to cave in. Someone pounded, obnoxiously hard, on the other side, and Will watched in awe as it rattled and shook his entire wall. He stared at the door, tilted his head to the side, and evaluated the reasons for such a horrible pounding.

His first thought was bill collectors coming to repossess his assets like they do in the movies, but then he remembered that he's a millionaire with a reliable secretary that pays his bills. Then he considered the odds that the mob was coming, or possibly the FBI, to ask for his help in some weird way, but that seemed illogical as well. Will had never met anyone in the mob before… except perhaps Fitz… but Will only suspected that when they were younger and Fitz was really into underground clubbing and S&M.

So Will thought some more about who could possibly be banging so hard on his door, but he didn't have to think very long, for just a few seconds later the unmistakable voice of Lizzy Morgan floated through his wall. "Will! I know you're in there! Corey told me you went home!"

If anything Will was even more confused. Lizzy had left for New York. She was over him, and she wasn't nearly strong enough to shake his door quite so hard. Perhaps he was imagining it; or maybe all the sugary breakfast cereal Corey had been feeding him was making his delusional. Either way, Will decided he should probably open the door before the hallucination came barreling through his wall.

"Are you real?" he asked the figment as he observed the life-like image his mind had created and even reached out to touch its face.

"Are you insane?" the illusion asked back, with sarcasm, then quickly pushed its way into the apartment, shoving him hard on the shoulder as she passed.

That confirmed it; she was real… and unnaturally strong…

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his mind working even slower than usual; once again he blamed the cereal, that stuff will mess with your mind. "Aren't you supposed to be in New York?"

She ignored his question, quickly whirling around to face him. "Did you know I hate you?"

Will shrugged. She'd proclaimed it to him enough times in their lives. If saying it made it true, then it was true a hundred times over. "I guess so," he replied dumbly.

She laughed for a second. "Don't you want to know why?"

He shrugged again. "Sure, why not?"

She took a small step closer to him, an insignificant movement especially considering the distance between them. "It's because of your nobility complex."

"Are we back on the whole wedding thing again?" he asked, trying desperately not to tug on his hair. She would know. That was his tell. "I didn't really want to go through with it you know-"

She slowly shook her head. "No." Another insignificant step… "This is about the job thing."

"Oh." His face kind of dropped. "You heard about that?" he asked, gulping and trying not to wince.

She took another step, a slightly larger one, and nodded.

"So Corey finally cracked? I knew she was having trouble with the pressure, but she'd promised-"

Lizzy made an impatient noise and Will quickly stopped talking. "Why would you get me a job in New York when you knew it'd mean I would leave you in LA?" she asked slowly.

Will shrugged. "Because I knew how much you wanted it. I figured that if I was going to be miserable in my life with Melanie, at least you'd be happy," he muttered, embarrassed.

Lizzy smiled and tried not to look at him. He wished she'd take another step closer. "Why didn't you want Corey to tell me it was you who got me the job?" she asked slowly once again, and Will tried not to get excited as she took yet another step.

He shrugged and couldn't help but tug on his hair. It stood at all angles, probably because he hadn't showered in a week. "I guess I figured that if you knew, you'd want to be with me for all the wrong reasons."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Because you were grateful," he replied, staring at his shoes, unable to imagine what her face would look like now.

He heard the clunk of another step. "So you got me my dream job, and were willing to let me set off across the country even if that meant you'd never see me again?"

He shrugged and shuffled his feet. "I would have seen you again. I mean, I just spent the last week living on your sofa, you think I'd just let you leave?"

There was another clunk. Out of his peripheral vision, Will could see the toes of her black and white flats. "Not every man would let a girl go," she replied.

Will continued to examine his laces. "Not every man has to face a girl as stubborn as you."

I happened in an instant. Will instinctively put one hand up to tug at his hair, and before he knew it her hand was on top of his. "You really do love me," she whispered, now closer than he ever could have hoped. There was room for no more steps. "And all this time I thought you were just saying it."

He closed the gap in an instant, his mouth pressed firmly against hers as if her lips were he only thing he'd ever wanted in his entire life. He pulled her as close as he could manage and brought his hands out of his hair to wrap them firmly around her waist. Her hands quickly took the place that his had abandoned as she wound her fingers through his already tousled hair. Will lifted her legs off the ground and she issued a soft giggle as this time they managed to make it past the couch, leaving her black and white flats behind.

He swung open the bedroom door with one hand, as she used her unnatural strength to hold her self up around him. He quickly rushed toward his bed and they both fell over in a heap, him pinning her to the bed.

"Ow," she suddenly yelped and Will jumped back in fright. She wiggled quickly, rolled over, and held her back in pain. "What the hell is this thing," she asked, humor in her voice as she pulled on of the handles to bring it closer. Before Will could stop her, she peered inside the bag already half filled with Will's clothes. "What's this?" she asked quickly looking up at him.

Will was leaning against the wall for support and gasping for breath. "What's it look like?" he managed in between his struggled breathing. What could he say? It had been awhile since his last time…

"A suitcase," she replied. "You weren't going somewhere were you?"

He shrugged and tried to regain his footing.

She stared at him for a few seconds. "Will, were you going to New York?" she asked cautiously.

He finally found his balance and used the wall to push himself back into a standing position. In three quick steps he'd crossed the floor back to where she lay on his bed and pressed a searing kiss to her lips. As he pulled away her lips reached out to him for more. "You hadn't even let me say goodbye," he muttered and as she smiled he planted another one on her.

They were both tired of talking; they'd been doing it for too long. It was finally time for no more words.

* * *

_What?! That can't be it! Well, bad news. Apart from the epilogue; that's it. (Which is really just a silly, summarizing piece of fluff. Just the way I like it...)_

_Aren't you a bit relieved? No more sexual tension/ angstyness. Their both still as stubborn as hell... but you wouldn't want them any other way. I love how they spend all this time talking and fighting and in the end it's what Will doesn't say that ends up getting them back together. Irony is a very stroooooong thing, my friend._

_Soooooo. I bet some of you are still upset about the whole wedding thing. How on earth could I let Will agree to that? Well in my own mind I feel like Darcy was too noble. I mean honestly, Jane's Darcy never would have backed out on a commitment of that magnitude no matter what his heart told him. I wanted my Darcy to have that too. So I had to leave it to a force greater than Darcy to intervene on his behalf. You call it fate, I call it my quest for a happy ending._

_And Lizzy bended pretty darn fast for being "over" him. Ha. No way was she over him. She was always looking for a reason to take him back. He's her Darcy. Every Lizzy needs a Darcy. She just needed to know that she could be with him and he wouldn't hold her back. She could be Lizzy and Will's girl at the same time. Will finally showed her that._

_See I'm not as horrible and angsty as you think. Deep down inside I'm just a hopeless romantic._ **Really** _deep down inside._

_Anyway, I've been saving some shout outs for the last part. You guys can wait for the epi, right? _

_(P.S. Am I at 300 yet?) _


	28. Epilogue

Just don't cry... Oh sorry. I'm just talking to myself again.**

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**Tell It Like It Is**

_Epilogue_

Try as he might, Will Darcy couldn't get it to fit. He pushed the books over, hoping that he could squeeze the damn book onto the shelf, but it was just too thick.

"Lizzy! Your book won't fit!" he yelled and Lizzy popped up from where she'd been napping on the soft green sofa.

"Won't fit?" she asked sleepily as her eyes lit on the book. "Will! That's not a book! That's Harry Potter!" Will turned over the volume. It certainly looked like a book. "Harry doesn't belong on a book shelf. He belongs on a pedestal," she added crossing the room swiftly and grabbing the book from his hands before he could even think to react.

"Are you saying you have a place designed only for holding your Harry Potter books?" he questioned as he watched her snatch the other six books off the shelf leaving it practically empty. She just nodded. "And where do you plan on putting this 'pedestal'?" he asked as he gestured around the apartment.

It was a large space that had taken Will weeks to find, especially considering that this was New York and apartments are more valuable than the people that live in them. It was gorgeous, with high ceilings for an apartment and a view overlooking Central Park. What could he say? The boy was a millionaire after all.

But despite its size it was full to the brim with what Will considered to be junk. His roommate, however, saw things differently.

"I'm not getting rid of Harry!" Lizzy cried as she hugged the stack of books close to her chest. "You keep looking at all my stuff as if it's junk. Well I'm not throwing anything away! I'd get rid of _you_ before Harry!"

Will rolled his eyes and tugged on his hair. "Lizzy, look at our apartment. We've been here for a whole three hours and already we're completely full. We have no room to live!"

Lizzy scoffed at him. "Not all of us need entirely empty rooms, Will. You're allowed to have things. Homes are meant to look like people live in them. They don't have to be white and sterile."

"Yes, but do we really need an entire room for your shoes?"

Lizzy gasped in horror. "You promised me a shoe room! I'd dreamed about one since I was a little girl!"

"Okay fine. We'll keep the shoe room, but what about all these books. Surely you don't need them all," he added grabbing a shredded red and white book that looked older than he was, or even possibly older than the entire country.

"Put that down," she gasped tossing Harry aside delicately so as to not harm her precious books. "That's a rare edition of the Grim Brother's original fairy tales."

Will looked at it. It didn't seem valuable to him. It just seemed like a battered wad of paper in broken English. He shot her a skeptical look.

She sighed and tried another tactic. "Look," she said evenly as she carefully extracted her book from his greasy fingers. (Will would have resented the thought. … Just because his hands were slightly sweaty…) "This is _our _home now," she added, emphasizing the word our as she led him back to the soft green couch. "Our stuff, just like us, must learn to live in unison."

Will snorted. She sounded like a high yoga instructor. She shot him a silencing look.

"We all know," she said ignoring his snorts. Who was the "we"? Did Harry now have a legitimate say in what happened in their apartment? "That I have a fear of commitment. Having things that are of great importance to me will help soothe me through this transition."

Will made to protest. She couldn't actually say that. She'd had roommates before; did she do this same spiel with them? However, before he could get the words out of his mouth her hands were on his thighs and her lips pressed firmly to his. "Lizzy," he muttered through their kiss.

"What?" she pulled away, seeming slightly flushed, they hadn't been together long enough for her to have lost that rush every time they kissed.

"I just don't think we're ever going to find a place for all this stuff," he replied and her shoulders dropped. He wasn't going to be distracted, it seemed.

"I've already found a place for it," she replied standing from his lap and crossing the room to what was soon to take form as Will's study. She swung open the door and held up her hands as if she'd just performed a magic trick. "Will Darcy. Behold your new study/library!"

"Lizzy," he groaned.

"Will!" she shouted back playfully. She crossed the room back to the sofa and kneeled on the cushion beside him. "Do you think Anya gives the stockbroker any say on the details of their wedding? Do you think Corey is giving Fitz any say about whether she'll go out with him or not? (By the way that's a positive. All my doing, thank you very much!) Do you think little Connor gives Erin and Eddie choice on when they get to sleep? I think not, so you should be grateful that I give you say on the outcome of our apartment."

Will's shoulders sagged. Shit. He was screwed. She'd always out debate him.

She kissed him softly, her upper torso pressed against him as she fell from her kneeling position into his lap. Eventually she pulled away.

"I have to go to work," she said smiling as she leapt off the sofa. She grabbed a light jacket. "It's my first day on air," she added nervously, as if he didn't know already. "Wish me luck," she sighed pressing another kiss to his lips. He didn't get to say anything as she dropped hr Harry Potter books onto his lap, and he groaned in pain. "Try to get this finished by the time I'm home or you're sleeping on the couch." She smiled one last time and flounced out of the apartment.

Will relaxed into the comfy green sofa. He looked around at the jumble of crap and got the feeling that at least he knew where he would be sleeping that night. But it didn't matter; he'd made perfectly sure he'd gotten the most comfortable couch he could find for that reason specifically.

* * *

_So much to say, so I suppose I'll start with thank you! This story has so many holes (that I can't wait to fix) and my plot gets so thin sometimes that I can't believe some of you stuck it out. I admire your patience and ability to find the good in a sea of bad. I think you should know that I love you guys and holla (!) for breaking 300! That just shows how awesome you are. Especially those that even read Lizzy Guide. (Can you believe it's been a whole year since I started that?)_

_Now for some semi-bad news. My Emma fic wont recieve any new posts until I'm finished. But don't get your panties in a wad! It's only a ten chappie story and two of which are already posted._

_But for those of you that just can't wait... I'm doing a fictional blog. IT's a P&P with a twist. I changed names (Darcy now Pat!) and it's told from Pat's POV, first person. I kinda can't believe I'm doing this after the hell I went through doing a journal style story for Lizzy's Guide, but I'm hoping for quick little doo-dads._

_Need a link?_

_I'll post it on my profile._

_Anyway... I guess this is farewell for Will and Lizzy._


End file.
